Broken Ties
by EricaX
Summary: After all that has happened, Negaduck, now without the Fearsome, is ready for total revenge and planning on hitting his enemies where it hurts. Will Darkwing and the Fearsome Four be able to defend themselves from him?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Broken Ties

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkwing Duck or any of these characters. I am making no profit whatsoever.

Author's Note: This is the next installment of my Darkwing Duck series. The story before this was Playing with Nightmares.

NOTE: If you have not read 'Playing with Nightmares' I suggest you read that first before reading this story, because there are many spoilers and you may not understand what it going on if you do not. I warn you now! Go back to the previous page before it is too late!!!

Broken Ties

Chapter 1

---

Flash after flash went off from the cameras as the news crews and television reporters gathered around the St. Canard bank, being pushed back by police officers who were simply trying to create a perimeter around the bank's entrance. Eager and stubborn reporters refused to give up easily as they continued to blurt out and shout their demanding questions about the robbery that had taken place just earlier that evening. Cameramen shot any footage that they could grab even it was just a simple shot of the heavily guarded swivel glass doors of the bank.

An ambulance's siren wailed as it pushed through the crowd of reporters, who reluctantly moved out of its way. Police officers closed the area, so the media were not able to get any closer.

St. Canard's coroner, an elderly parrot, quietly slipped into the bank's entrance after being admitted by the police guarding the door. "Thank you, gentlemen" he told them quietly as he stepped through the threshold. The sight that met him was disheartening, but over the years, the old parrot had become practically immune to such situations.

He looked across the room near the entrance to the vault that Negaduck had robbed and saw J. Gander Hooter standing near the door, looking grimly down at the bodies of the two men before him on the floor as the paramedics placed them in black bags so that they could be identified later. The coroner checked over the bodies before they were carted off as Grizzlekof stepped through the vault's door, a furious expression on his large furry brown face. He straightened his posture and the tie he was wearing with his suit before kneeling down to hand Hooter a little slip of paper.

Brought out of his thoughts from the gesture, Hooter snapped his eyes up to Grizzlekof's face, looking confused. "Zeese vas found inside ze vault. It eez from Negaduck himself."

Warily, Hooter gave Grizzlekof one last glance before taking a good look at the note that Negaduck had left behind. It was a small, light purple piece of paper folded neatly. But of course, Negaduck treated his letters so formally, as though he was inviting someone to a formal dinner party.

_'Dear St. Canard,_

_I am tired of playing. Tired of all of you fools out there. Now, I'm serious. No more games, no more idiocies. I want this town's justice force out of commission. Now the real games begin. I plan on hitting Darkwing Duck where it hurts. And it all starts with a death. I want that pilot do-gooder, Launchpad McQuack, dead and if I don't find him dead in the three days, there will be Hell to pay. And all the sweet innocent civilians of St. Canard will be the ones paying for it._

_Yours Truly,_

_Negaduck'_

Hooter gave out a small cry of alarm, before looking back up at Grizzlkof. "Oh….my…." he muttered. He handed the note back to Grizzlekof as he tried to wrap his mind about what the note had said. He placed a small hand over his heart. "My…goodness…..This is serious. Very much so…." he shook his head. "Oh, Darkwing will be crushed with this news…I…I feel for the boy, I really do…and Mr. McQuack…Oh…" he then seemed to snap out of his thoughts, coming back to reality as he sternly looked up at Grizzlekof. "The news must not get wind of this!"

Stashing the note away in an inside pocket of his suit to later use as evidence to the scene of the crime, Grizzlekof scoffed. "Ze entire city iz in jeopardy and you ez vorried about Darkving??" he raised his eyebrow distastefully down at Hooter as he asked this. "They zould know….zince innocent people could get hurt."

Hooter seemed affronted by his comment. "And why shouldn't I feel for him!? Launchpad McQuack is Darkwing's partner! The two of them are best friends! And his life has just been put in danger!!"

"Zat masked clown ez alvays getting into trouble. He ez more trouble than he ez worth…." hissed Grizzlekof, having never cared much for Darkwing.

Hooter shook his head. "Now, now…I know that you two have never truly gotten along, but let us have bygones be bygones, yes? We must figure this out! As I said, if the media catches wind of this--"

"Knoving them, zey probably already have" commented Grizzlekof, giving the front doors to the bank a look distaste, being able to see the flashing of the cameras from the outside.

Hooter sighed, knowing this was more than true. "I suppose I will have to try helping the boy, if he needs any. At least give him comfort." The two of them said no more as the paramedics took the two bodies out to the ambulance, the coroner not too far behind them.

Outside the St. Canard bank, news reporters continued to try to get as much information from the scene of the crime as they could, hoping to get a good story. News vans crowded the otherwise empty streets with wires and cords all over the place.

A little ways down from the steps that led to the bank's door stood two plump women, standing side by side as they watched the scene unfold. One of them was a raccoon with tan fur with chocolate colored stripes going down both sides of her neck and down her arms and sides. She had shoulder length dark brown hair and piercing green eyes as she gazed up at the crowd of reporters before her. She wore a simple jean jacket with a simple red shirt underneath and some jeans. In her hand she held a small notebook where she was jotting down notes with lightning speed, her eyes never leaving the crowd before her. The woman to her left was about the same size as her friend and was a dark skinned canine. She had jet black hair that was pulled tightly into a low, small bun at the nape of her neck. She wore an orange and black rain coat and matching windbreakers and tennis shoes. She carried a large camera and some other equipment with her as she looked on.

The raccoon woman grunted. "Look at this! This is a mess! Don't they know they'll never get a decent story this way!" She turned to her friend, who looked as though she was going to reply, but she cut her off. "I'm telling you Samara, once I get this coverage done, people are going to start seeing things MY way. My theory is this…all this stuff that has been going on lately involving the Fearsome Five, has GOT to be somehow interconnected! The tree on top of the law firm building, the explosion at S.P.E.C., Mr. Meddle's near death experience…." she trailed off, shaking her head. "Something is going on here and I want to figure it out."

"Yeah….a gift for the nostalgic….more reasons to leave St. Canard…that's just what we need, Kat…." drawled Samara's alto voice as she bleakly glanced around her.

Kat turned on her heel at this comment. "Hey, listen! You were the one who said you were offering to help!"

"Correction: I was the only one who didn't get the memo that said, 'Don't help Kat on her latest bogus story. It's worse than usual'" said Samara dryly, never making eye contact with Kat.

Kat scowled. "It's not bogus! Besides, Peter assigned you to be my camera person!"

"Yippie skippy…" muttered Samara darkly. Kat ignored her.

"Now the thing I want to know is, why didn't Negaduck use the Fearsome Four to help him break into this bank!? Why did he use two rookies and then blow them up at the end?" Samara didn't respond, not looking like she truly cared or was even listening. Kat was in her own little world as she jotted down some notes and paced back and forth slightly in the tight area they were in. "Hmm….I have some theories…"

This gained a reaction from Samara, who turned to her and looked at her with wide eyes. "Good grief, woman! You and your theories! Do you not remember the evil crickets incident! Your theory on those crickets nearly sent you to the nuthouse!"

Kat regarded her with wide eyes for a moment, then looked away, looking down at her notes. "Yeah, well, you weren't there the day they attacked me…"

Samara sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "Why me?" she muttered to herself as she turned away.

J. Gander and Grizzlekof exited the bank's doors at this moment, which caused the media to go into a frenzy. Kat looked up with eagerness as she began to push her way through the crowd of other reporters and news crews. She glanced back and saw that Samara had stayed where she was at. "Hey! Get up here! You have to film everything in case I get a question in!!"

"Getting pulverized by crazy reporters is not in my job description…" Samara called over to her in an even voice.

Kat did a double take. "That's what being a camera person is all about!" Samara stayed where she was even as Kat walked back towards her, glaring her down.

"Ladies and gentlemen!!" called out Hooter from at the top of the steps that led to the bank. All of the reporters fell silent as they waited to see what Hooter had to say.

"Thank you for your time, but please, hold all of your questions for later! We must find the families of these two men and get them back to their loved ones! Now, please, go!"

"SIR! Is it true that there was a letter from Negaduck to city vigilante, Darkwing Duck!?" cried out a male reporter. Hooter froze at his question, having been getting ready to walk down the steps. He inwardly winced, having hopes that the news had not already gotten out.

"That information is confidential" he answered stiffly, straightening the front of his jacket. Kat, who was standing several feet back, watched intently as she jotted down notes; writing down everything she saw and heard.

"Sir!! Why won't you answer our questions!?" came another reporter's voice. Several other reporters blurted out their questions, which Hooter flat out ignored as he and Grizzlekof; escorted by several police officers, descended down the stairs.

"Why didn't Negaduck have the Fearsome Four with him to rob this bank!?" screamed out Kat. Everyone stopped and looked at her, including Hooter and Grizzlekof. Hooter eyed her carefully.

"That, young lady, is a good question" Hooter responded, then continued down the steps and a moment later he was gone; hidden by all the security.

----------

Far away from the bustling crowds at the St. Canard bank, safely settled in the suburbs outside St. Canard sat Drake Mallard. He sat on his own couch in his own living room, wondering what he had done to deserve such Hellish torment.

Beside him sat the overly large and overweight Herb Muddlefoot, stuffing his face with popcorn out of a large green bowl that sat in his large hand. Herb gave out a loud laugh as he watched the show, 'Pelican's Island' on the television before them.

Binkie Muddlefoot sat on the other side of the Herb and Launchpad sat next to Drake. Gosalyn, Honker, and Tank were sitting on the floor; all eyes on the television. Except for Drake's. He was too busy scowling at his neighbors, hating when they came over unexpectedly like they had earlier that night. It seemed there was always some excuse for them to come over. Either it was a barbeque, a power outage, a squirrel ate the wires to their television, the channel that played 'Pelican's Island' wouldn't work, a shortage of something edible, Binkie made cookies and wanted to share, or because Herb decided that since none of the other reasons had taken place, he should just stop and visit anyways.

Drake grumbled as Herb dropped popcorn all over his recently vacuumed floor as he crossed his arms, grateful that the show had just ended. Once the show ended, the Muddlefoots did stay much longer afterwards.

"Well, that was a great episode, didn't you think so, Drakester!" chuckled Herb, shoving the last of the popcorn into his mouth. Drake gave a sideways glare at Herb.

"Well…" he forced out a laugh which ended up sounding more like a cough. "Considering it's the 20th or so time I've ever seen it, yes, I would have to say its still got a few laughs in it." he spoke through bared teeth.

Launchpad patted him on the back unexpectedly, which nearly caused him to fall off the couch. "Aww, relax, DW! It may not have been your favorite episode but at least--" Launchpad stopped talking as he looked over and saw the death glare that Drake was currently giving him.

"Thank you, Launchpad" he hissed quietly to the pilot, knowing that the Muddlefoots would take no notice to his bad mood.

Gosalyn stood from where she sat on the floor and turned to her father, pulling down her jersey shirt, which had risen up from the way she had been sitting. "So, now what, dad?" Honker adjusted his glasses as he and Tank turned to look back at Drake as well.

"What do you mean, 'Now what?'" he asked her incredulously.

Gosalyn shrugged. "Now that the show is over--"

"We're not watching any of your zombie movies!" her father interrupted her, already knowing what his devious daughter was thinking and planning. Gosalyn and Tank immediately groaned at this as Honker, who was still sitting between them, gave out a sigh of relief. Drake ignored them as he shot Binkie and Herb another glare. He watched as Binkie stood up and began fluffing her dress out.

He forced himself not to gag, being entirely grateful that his lovely Morgana was nothing like Binkie. He couldn't stand Binkie and her pristine, 'the world is so perfect and lovely' personality.

"Actually" spoke up Drake in the best, polite voice he could manage considering his mood. "If none of you mind, I would like to now turn it to the news."

Herb nodded hugely, his large head bouncing up and down on his wide shoulders. "Excellent idea, there, Drake-a-roonie! Gotta keep up with all the news and stuff. Especially after all the weird things happening, like with that Whiffle Boy guy!"

"Yeah!" shouted Tank, standing up and coming out of his silence. The large duckling made a fist. "Can you believe it!? The inventor of Whiffle Boy, who's like, the best thing out there, was nearly murdered by some psycho clown!"

Drake closed his eyes, inwardly groaning. Oh, yes, he was very aware that had taken place. Very aware. Had it not been for him and Megavolt that night, Mr. J. Meddle would probably no longer be alive to tell the tales of that horrific night. In fact, ever since the events had taken place, it was all the old rat toymaker talked about it seemed. Whenever he would hold a conference for a new toy design or for the development of the new Whiffle Boy video game, he had gotten into the habit of bringing Quackerjack into it somehow or other, raving on and on about how the childish jester was a threat to St. Canard.

_'He's BEEN a threat to St. Canard, Meddle…Not just until he decided to try to kill you…'_ had been what Drake first thought when he learned about Mr. Meddle and his ramblings.

Gosalyn, who was still standing, nodded vigorously at Tank's statement. "Yeah, that clown has another thing coming if he thinks he's gonna get to mess with Meddle again!" he vowed, rolling up her sleeves.

Drake ignored her and reached across Herb's large stomach to grab the remote in the other's large hand. "Excuse me, Herb" he muttered out of habit of hospitality. As Herb and Launchpad began discussing the plots in 'Pelican's Island', Drake tuned them out and began flipping through the channels, hoping to find the news channel. After several minutes, he finally found it.

Grinning with satisfactory that something of importance was now playing on the television, Drake sat back a bit to be more comfortable, but as the commercial ended and the news officially came on, his smile quickly vanished.

The news reporter on the television was a canine woman with blonde hair and she was currently answering the questions of another news caster who was off screen; all that could be heard was the other man's voice asking the questions.

Behind her, in a small box at the corner of the screen was a shot of the St. Canard bank being taken from a helicopter's point of view. It was a live shot of what was taking place at the bank and Drake could see police officers trying their best to keep the perimeter around the bank's entrance clear.

The woman news caster finally addressed the viewers at home. "Good, evening, ladies and gentlemen. For those of you who are just now joining us, we have breaking news on a bank robbery that had taken place in downtown St. Canard at the St. Canard bank. For those of you who don't know, this happens to be one of our city's largest and most historic banks, which is also the holder of many of S.H.U.S.H.'s funds. As of 6:05 this evening, the bank was robbed by none other than the notorious mastermind, Negaduck, accompanied with who is believed to be two small time local crooks. The names of the two men helping him have yet to be released and is still confidential."

Drake's full attention was now on the television and he was so intent on what was going on, he didn't even register the fact that silence had filled the room. Herb, Binkie, Launchpad, Gosalyn, Honker, and Tank were also allured by the news on the screen from their conversations.

"Now just twenty minutes ago, J. Gander Hooter, chief of S.H.U.S.H. along with Agent Grizzlekof, came out after investing the scene for themselves. Though they were reluctant to give out this information, they later obliged. It would seem that after letting the two rookie criminals meet their deaths from the small explosive bomb used to open the vault, Negaduck had left a warning note for our men in blue to discover. I--I think we got a copy of what the note said--Bob? Have we got that yet to show---" the news lady took a moment to briefly whisper to one of the camera men. She quickly turned her attention back to the camera before her. "Yes, here we have what the note says. We'll have it up on the screen there for you."

The text from Negaduck's note appeared on the screen, allowing everyone to read it. Drake's blood ran more cold in his veins with each word he read further into it.

'I plan on hitting Darkwing Duck where it hurts. And it all starts with a death. I want that pilot do-gooder, Launchpad McQuack, dead and if I don't find him dead in the next three days, there will be Hell to pay. '

Drake's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape as he tried to grasp what was going on. Launchpad fell off the couch, shaking severely and nearly colliding into Tank, who had been sitting in front of him. All eyes were still glued on the television.

The news lady came back on. "It would appear that the masked vigilante is close with Launchpad McQuack, who, in the past has been seen with Darkwing Duck numerous times. As for what the public plans to do with this information, is yet unknown. The note makes it sound as though if Mr. McQuack is not found dead in three days, all of St. Canard will pay the price. We all insist that no one takes matters into their own hands."

"DW…" Launchpad's voice sounded weak, deflated, and slightly pleading.

"Oh, MY!" cried out Binkie as the news continued to show live shots of the bank. She gushed at the tall pilot. "Oh, is that YOU they're talking about!? Now, tell me, Launchpad, dear, however did you get yourself wrapped up in all this!?" She quickly stood and walked up to Launchpad, who had just gotten up from his fall on the floor. Launchpad looked at her with worried eyes, still shivering as she gave him a hug.

Herb was then the next one to stand, walking up to Launchpad. "Now, see, sonny, that's what you get for getting yourself mixed in with the likes of them!" Launchpad faintly nodded.

Gosalyn, coming out from her trance from the television, glanced up to see Binkie and Herb surrounding Launchpad. She glanced behind her to see Drake still at a loss for words, a heartbroken look on his face. She had to do something about all this and fast. She poked Honker hard in the ribs, who flinched at her actions. She leaned over close to his ear once she knew she had his full attention.

"You have GOT to get your parents out of here so that we can talk about all this!" she hissed. Honker pushed up his glasses, nodding quickly. He stood, which grabbed the attention of Tank, who watched him as the smaller duckling walked up to his parents.

"Umm….mom…dad.." he began in his nasally little voice. He looked up at them. "I think we should go and let the Mallards have some time to themselves…"

Binkie and Herb looked down at their youngest son. Binkie slowly smiled and nodded at length. "Yes, sweetie, I suppose you're right." She turned to her husband. "Come dear, Drake and Launchpad will need to talk this over…" She began pushing Herb closer and closer to the door.

"Well, alright. But Launchpad, son, if you need anything, we're right next door." he offered before going through the back door. Tank followed suit and Honker gave them one last pitying glance before he too followed, shutting the glass door behind him.

The silence that filled the Mallard home afterwards was thick and heavy. Launchpad looked as though he was starting to hyperventilate. "DW…." he whispered once more.

This seemed to snap Drake out of his trance since he finally looked away from the television, still wearing a heartbroken expression as he slowly turned to Launchpad. Drake opened up his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Gosalyn just stood there, not knowing what to do or what to say. "I'm….I'm sorry, Launchpad." Drake spoke so softly that Gosalyn and Launchpad almost didn't hear him. The pilot looked over at Drake, looking slightly confused. But before he could ask why Drake was sorry, Drake continued to speak. "I'm sorry I got you in this mess. I….don't regret ever making you my sidekick…It was one of the best decisions I ever made…"

Launchpad gave him a genuine smile at this, truly touched, but his smile quickly vanished. "I-It's okay, DW. I…I got myself into this mess, really. It's not entirely your fault…"

"Hello!? What are you going to do here!? Dad! Launchpad is up for murder! Negaduck said in that letter than unless he's……dead….in three days, St. Canard is going to pay! Don't you think there are going to some people out there who aren't going be just a LITTLE bit upset!?" She had faltered, almost unable to say or even think of the possibility of losing Launchpad. She had already lost her parents and grandfather and while Launchpad wasn't legally connected to her in any way as Drake was, she still considered him a part of the family.

Drake bit the bottom of his lip as he turned the television off with a click of the remote. He hadn't thought about that possibility.

"W-What do you mean by that, Gos?" gulped Launchpad, wringing his hands together. He took a wary glance outside the window. "Y-You don't think someone out there would try to k-kill me….do you!?" Drake and Gosalyn both looked up at him, not sure how to answer. "I-I mean…..a normal…everyday citizen wouldn't try anything….would they!?"

Drake looked away for a moment, deciding the best way to answer this. At length, he said, "I don't know, LP. But, I don't think we can take the risk…." Launchpad blinked at him, having hoped for a more hopeful answer. He watched as Drake stood from the couch. "Until further notice, LP, you are not to leave this house. Do you hear me?"

Gosalyn injected on this. "What about the Tower? Can he go there!?"

Drake gave her an incredulous look. "Well, of COURSE he can go there! That's even more safe than here, now isn't it!? Plus, he doesn't have to leave the house in order to get there."

Gosalyn gave him a sheepish look for not having thought of that herself. She turned to Launchpad, who was still standing next to the couch, shaking slightly from the news. She took a few steps closer to him and gave him a hug. "Don't worry, Launchpad, we won't let anything happen to you."

Appreciating the affection, Launchpad scooped her up into his arms. "Awww, thanks, Gos. That means a lot to me…" he responded gently, holding her close.

Drake smiled briefly before frowning once more. "Launchpad, can you think of any other safe place that you could stay? As a possible backup in case something goes wrong here?" he took a wary glance out the front window, as Launchpad had earlier, thinking the same things. "I mean, we can't deny that some of our neighbors know you're here all the time, you know?"

Launchpad nodded. "Yes, that's true, DW." he sat Gosalyn back down on the floor. He took a moment to think things over, a reflective look on his face. "And I know just the place I could go if I need to…."

------

Far away from the crowds of the city, the fall leaves shivered in the wind as the last of them tried their best to stay on the tree's branches; the bitterly cold wind outside swirling around them.

The grass along the tree's trunk could hardly be seen thanks to all of the red, brown, and yellow tainted leaves that had already fallen. The Greenhouse that sat on top of the hill on the outskirts of St. Canard looked cold and lonely from the outside, all the plants having died from the cold and gone into hibernation until spring's warm air and rain would bring them back from their solace.

Reginald Bushroot was one mutant plant duck who refused to let the bitter cold of winter bother his plants anymore. While the wind whipped around outside as tiny snowflakes began to fall from the sky, Bushroot stood in front of his work table, lab coat on and a beaker in his leafy hand. His goal was to design and create a formula that could help plants survive better in the winter. He knew that plants were naturally supposed to die in the winter. It was a part of mother nature itself, but he wanted only to help them survive a little longer. His thoughts were focused on the spring months when the plants first started to be reborn for the new summer ahead of them. The first months of spring were always harsh to plants thanks to frost and chilly nights.

Pulling back his sleeve with his free hand, Bushroot took the beaker that held a light green clear liquid inside of it and poured into a larger beaker with its own liquid, leaning close to the table so that he could watch the reaction of the two chemicals. Several seconds later, a smile formed on the mutant's beak as he leaned back; standing straight again, and watched with content as the liquid turned a light rose color.

His gaze turned towards entrance of the Greenhouse, where his crystal blue eyes fell on Liquidator, who was still nothing but a concrete statue thanks to Megavolt and Quackerjack. It had only just happened the night before. Bushroot's smile quickly vanished as he let out a small sigh. He missed Liquidator already and it hadn't even been that long. He wished Quackerjack and Megavolt hadn't done that to him, but the watery villain had deserved it after all the trouble he had caused them. He had been asking for trouble when he gave out such valuable information to someone like Paddywhack.

Bushroot shivered violently at the memory of the ghostly creature. He had hoped Quackerjack was right about Paddywhack truly being gone. He didn't want to have to think about him ever again.

Bushroot brought himself out of his thoughts, trying to focus on the task at hand. Now that he knew that the two chemicals blended well together to get a satisfying result, he could test it out on the plant he had chosen. He had chosen a small potted daisy to be the tester of his newest experiment.

"Are you sure you want to try this? I have no idea if it will work or not, Velvet" he spoke softly to the small white daisy. He had named the daisy Velvet. He had known at the time he had named her why he had chosen that particular name, but now the reason escaped him.

_'Yes, I am sure, master. I trust you'_

Bushroot was able to hear her response and he gave one of her petals a gentle stroke, which made the daisy shiver slightly.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot. But I'm sorry if it doesn't work" he told her, slightly hesitant as he raised the beaker and poured the chemical into the soil of her pot. At first, nothing happened as Bushroot set the beaker down on the table and he watched to see if anything in the slightest happened.

"Well!? Anything!?" he asked Velvet, his voice filled with eagerness.

Nothing. He didn't receive any type of response from Velvet. He couldn't hear her voice in his mind. He could hear his other children whisper amongst themselves throughout his Greenhouse, but not Velvet. "Velvet??"

_'Goodbye, master….'_ came a weak whisper from Velvet. Bushroot's eyes widened with fear and sadness as he watched Velvet slowly wilt and crumple up. Bushroot gasped, grabbing the pot where Velvet once grew and held it close to his body.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Velvet! You had to die so carelessly at my mishap!" he touched what was left of Velvet's leaves. "My own stupidity is what killed you, my sweet. If only I had managed to perfect the formula on the first try!" He gently and almost reluctantly sat the pot back down on the work table.

Bushroot went to turn around, planning on spending the rest of the afternoon mourning Velvet's death when hands rested upon his shoulders and made the poor mutant plant duck jump several feet in the air.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!" he cried out in shock, his petal hair going straight for a moment before falling back down to its normal appearance. When Bushroot landed, he landed in cool liquid arms which caught him with ease. Trembling from the scare, Bushroot realized that it was only Liquidator, who was currently beaming at him.

"Are you scared? Are you sad that all your hard work came up empty handed? That's alright, just spend some quality time with your local Liquidator, who just recently came back from being trapped in concrete Hell!" spoke the ex-salesman in his usual, loud jargon voice.

Bushroot just blinked at him for a moment, panting slightly as he waited for his heart rate to go back down. He gulped, a large smile finally forming on his beak.

"Liquidator!" he cried out joyously. He gave the watery canine a genuine hug the best way he could as Liquidator still held him in his arms. Liquidator smiled warmly at this gesture, stretching one of his arms out so that he could reach up his hand to gently stroke the stamens on Bushroot's head. Bushroot closed his eyes, loving the feeling it caused.

"I didn't think you would be free from the concrete this soon…" whispered Bushroot in his moment of pleasure.

Liquidator's large grin finally vanished, being replaced by a small smile. "Neither did I, but I managed it. I knew you owned a humid greenhouse, Reggie, but not one that was humid enough to make it easier for me to escape the tight refines of concrete! Why, a full twenty-four hours hasn't even gone by!"

Bushroot shrugged. "I'm part plant, so of course, I'm going to want it as humid as possible in here."

"Humidity doesn't effect you like it would a normal duck, does it?" voiced Liquidator. Bushroot shook his head in a negative. "So while everyday citizens are sweating away from the heat and humidity, you're happy and content as can be!"

"As happy as a new seedling in fresh soil. I don't really sweat, either. Not much at least. Only on days when I overwork myself…" explained the botanist.

"Ahh, but why overwork yourself when you have the hydraulics of the Liquidator to now help you with your work!" announced Liquidator proudly and in a bragging way.

Bushroot scoffed, pushing Liquidator's arms away from him in hopes of being set back down on the ground. Liquidator reluctantly set his roots on the dirt floor. "You never used to help me before so what makes you want to start helping me now?" he stepped away from Liquidator, not looking at him; refusing to look at him as he crossed his arms, a frown on his beak.

Liquidator's ears drooped, looking like a kicked puppy. "Look, I said I was sorry about the way I used to treat you. I….I messed up… " Bushroot made sound of agreement, his back still facing him. "I've come to find out just how important you are to me and what its like to lose you. And I want to help you. " Liquidator walked up behind him, wrapping his watery arms around the other mutant. "Come now, can you really say no to Liquidator's Pure Tasting Water? Or his 100% liquid love?" He began running his arms up and down Bushroot's back. He then made a trail from Bushroot's tail feathers all the way up to his petal hair. This made Bushroot uncross his arms; coiling at the touch.

Bushroot sighed after enjoying Liquidator's touch, finally turning around to face him. "Alright, alright. I believe you…" he told him with exasperation. But there was a smile on his face. Liquidator grabbed hold of him and held him close.

At length, Liquidator pushed Bushroot back at an arm's length, keeping his hold on the other's shoulders as he scanned Bushroot's physique.

Embarrassed and not knowing what was going on, Bushroot asked, "W-What are you doing?"

"What happened after I was sealed tight in that concrete? Megavolt and Quackerjack didn't hurt you, did they?" he demanded, sounding slightly angry, but Bushroot knew it was only because of the thought that he could have gotten hurt.

The flashback of Quackerjack nearly choking him to death flashed through his mind, but he decided not to say anything about it. At least, not yet. The green mutant shook his head, putting a reassuring hand on Liquidator's arm. "No, they didn't hurt me. If anything, I hurt them." he chuckled, feeling his chest swell with pride. Liquidator's ears perked up at this. "Yeah, with the help of my plants I was able to straighten them around. They left shortly afterwards. No hard feelings between us. Though I don't know how they feel about you. Things might still be rough."

Liquidator nodded. He knew none of this would blow over quickly. He grabbed Bushroot by a leafy hand and pulled him close, just grateful that they were back together.

-----

Chinks and clatters could be heard echoing through the spiraling stairs that went up to the very top of the Lighthouse. Occasionally the sound of little bells jingling ran through the air along with a small giggle or chuckle.

At the very top of the steps to the Lighthouse was where Megavolt's hideout was and thanks to the events that had taken place days before, his home was now currently a wreck, most of what he considered his belongings and treasures destroyed.

Megavolt and Quackerjack had been spending the last hour and a half attempting to clean what was left of Megavolt's hideout. The last time Megavolt had been there had been the dreadful night Paddywhack had taken control of his body. Paddywhack, while learning how to use and obtain Megavolt's body and his electrical powers, had shot bolts of electricity everywhere throughout his hideout, hitting and destroying everything.

It turned out, as Quackerjack had learned, that seeing all these broken light bulbs and appliances and wires was a very emotional thing for Megavolt. The rodent looked miserable as he sat there picking up the pieces that remained of his collection of light bulbs. He sat there on the floor, slumped over slightly, picking up piece by piece and slowly discarding them into the garbage bag.

"Can't cry…..Can't cry….I'll short circuit…." Megavolt was currently muttering to himself, reaching up underneath his goggles and rubbing at his eyes. Quackerjack was on the other side of the room gathering what was left of a toaster and was tossing it inside his own garbage bag.

The jester was finding it fun to see how many things he could toss into the bag at once while still making them all end up in the bag. It wasn't going well since half time he wasn't even looking where he was throwing and was simply tossing the pieces over his shoulder.

After running out of things to throw, the toymaker glanced back over to Megavolt, where he knew the rodent was having a hard time. He bounced his way to his favorite playmate, doing a cartwheel in the process and landed beside him.

"Megs…..are you crying??" he asked in a surprised, childish voice.

"No" snapped Megavolt harshly, pulling his goggles back down indignantly and going back to cleaning up the mess.

Quackerjack gave him a large bucktoothed smile. "Yes, you are Megs…stop denying it. You always have been a horrid liar." Megavolt didn't respond to this, just continued to ignore the toymaker. Quackerjack's crazed eyes looked between Megavolt and his once prized light bulb collection. "Megsy…" he whispered into the rodent's ear. "Will you cry this hard when I die?"

Megavolt didn't respond right away, but when he did, it wasn't the answer Quackerjack had been expecting. "Depends on how many light bulbs you break in the process. Like, however you die, the amount of light bulbs that die too, if any."

Quackerjack wasn't sure to be flattered or offended. He chose to be offended. "So….you won't cry at all when I'm gone!? You won't miss me!?" he began to wail. Large tears sprung to his eyes as he grabbed hold of Megavolt's arm. "You won't even care when I'm gone!?"

Megavolt stopped what he was doing, turning slightly to look at the other. "Did you not hear me!? I said it depends on how many light bulbs you break. Meaning, YES, I will miss you terribly!"

Quackerjack, who had been looking down as he wailed, snapped his head up, his tears miraculously gone. "And you'll cry!?"

"Yes, I'll cry….a lot….I'll probably be short circuited for months…" replied Megavolt with a hint of disdain as he returned to cleaning up the shattered light bulb pieces.

Quackerjack wrapped his arms around Megavolt, squeezing the rodent and making Megavolt stop what he was working on. "I don't know what you meant about the light bulb part, but I'm just so happy you'll miss me and cry at my death!!"

Megavolt scowled as Quackerjack continued to hug him. "Why are we talking about death again?"

Quackerjack released him, scooping up a handful of shattered light bulb glass into his hands and placing it into the garbage bag. "I just wanted to know if you'd cry if I died, that's all… I mean…I know I will…cause I cried that day I thought you died after that explosion. " Silence consumed the room as the two of them continued to clean. After a good five minutes, Quackerjack started to whine.

"Shut up" hissed Megavolt after the jester dramatically sighed. " I know you're bored but we have to do this!"

"Ooooh! I have an idea that could make this SO much more fun!!" cried out Quackerjack delight and eagerness.

"No! We're not using toy soldiers!" snapped Megavolt.

"AWWWWWWW!!!! Why not!?" wailed Quackerjack, his large beak making his pout all the more large.

"Because I have a feeling they'll just cause more trouble than good" replied Megavolt. He stood, grabbing a broom and started sweeping the rest of the mess up. Quackerjack bounced up into a standing position and tried grabbing the broom. Megavolt moved it away just in time. After several minutes of grunting as Quackerjack tried getting the broom from a dodging Megavolt, Quackerjack finally grabbed it.

"Let go!" snarled Megavolt.

"I just love it when you get all fired up, Megsy!" giggled the toymaker, a teasing smile of his beak. Megavolt ignored him. Quackerjack yanked the broom as hard as he could, not expecting what happened next to happen. He had yanked so hard that Megavolt was caught off guard, making him go flying forwards. Quackerjack, his eyes wide, managed to move aside just in time as Megavolt lurched forward, loosing his footing. The rodent fell forward and landed in an empty bucket that Megavolt had planned to use for cleaning later. His head made contact with the large bucket and the rest of Megavolt's body made him slide on the floor a bit from all the momentum.

With a loud crash Megavolt landed, hitting several boxes and an old computer screen. Quackerjack squeaked, dropping the broom and immediately rushed to help Megavolt up.

"Oh, so that's where the soap is" he heard Megavolt say, his face inside the bucket, which caused a slight echo. Quackerjack giggled as he helped Megavolt sit up and pulled the bucket off of his head.

"Sorry, Megs. Are you okay?"

"Why didn't you just let me have the broom?" he demanded.

"Because it was more fun this way!"

"Yeah, for you!" growled Megavolt, closing his eyes, crossing his arms, and looking away. His eyes were wide a moment later when Quackerjack gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Quackerjack watched as Megavolt's cheeks turned slightly pink and a spark of electricity emitted from the end of his whisker.

Megavolt sighed. "A lot has happened lately…huh…"

Quackerjack nodded softly, the bells at the end of his hat jingling a little softer than normal. "Yes….First the explosion at S.P.E.C. and then the hassle with Paddywhack….I've almost lost you TWICE now Megs, in just the last six months!"

Megavolt raised an eyebrow. "What happened at S.P.E.C.!?"

"An explosion. You lost your memory, remember?" he reminded his friend.

Megavolt shook his head. "Barely…" he sighed. "I just want to know what's going to happen now…"

"Happen?" echoed Quackerjack.

"Yeah…..I wonder what's going to happen to us next that will cause us trouble…"

Quackerjack fiddled with the end of his hat, not knowing what to say or how to answer. He scooted closer to Megavolt, knowing somewhere in his crazy, childish mind that he knew one thing for certain, they were going to have to be extra careful. He refused to let Megavolt get hurt anymore because of him and he also knew that he refused to let anything keep them apart.

Little did Quackerjack or Megavolt know that on the other side of the city, their ex-boss, Negaduck was planning on making everyone's life Hell and it all started with Launchpad McQuack.

-----


	2. Chapter 2

Broken Ties

Chapter 2

Gray clouds covered the late suburban sky as wary eyes cast over the Mallard household. Curtains parted inside the window of the house across the street as a middle-aged female mouse peered out her window to cast a dark look at her neighbor's house. She had seen the news, heard what was going on. It made her shiver to think something like that was taking place in her very own neighborhood.

The lady mouse had soft brown hair pulled up into a disheveled bun and wore jeans, a t-shirt and a cooking apron. Her steely blue eyes glanced over to notice that her two friends and neighbors, both women, were heading over into her yard. Releasing the curtain, she quickly donned her shoes and jacket and stepped outside her front door to join them. The air was chilly as she wrapped her arms around herself.

The other two women were both canines, one blonde and the other one with black hair. The blonde was shorter and bigger boned while the other was taller and more slender.

"It's a shame really, for something like this to happen. Why does it have to be involved with our neighborhood, of all places in St. Canard?" voiced the tall dark haired canine. She didn't bother with pleasantries as she got straight to the point. Neither of her friends seemed to mind, for their thoughts were focused on the same thing.

Giving a nod, the mouse woman said with a hint of sadness, "Mr. Mallard always has been a strange fellow." She received two nods of agreement from her friends. "Never have truly introduced myself in all the time he's been here the last few years. But that's only because I've never gotten the chance; he's rarely home. Not very social, is he?"

"That's an understatement" hissed the tall canine, crossing her arms as they continued to stand in the front yard, all huddled together. "I met him only because his rambunctious daughter kicked a soccer ball through my front window once. He came over to apologize. Ended up paying for the window for me, saying it was actually coming out of his daughter's weekly allowance. The girl had come with him, staring at the cement the whole time. And when she did apologize to me, she didn't sound as though she meant it. She's a little hellion, that's for sure."

"Now, Chrissy, be nice" chastised the blonde. "I'm sure she's not all that bad. She probably is just hyper, that's all. Loves to play."

"A tomboy" supplied the mouse woman. The blonde canine nodded.

"I wonder where the mother is" commented the shorter canine. "I've never seen her."

"That's because she doesn't exist. Mr. Mallard isn't married." replied Chrissy pointedly.

"Oh….Well then-" began the blonde.

"She's not his" interrupted Chrissy, already knowing her friend's question. Chrissy glanced down at her shorter friend. "He adopted her."

"Hmm…That would surely explain why there is no resemblance between them. I always just assumed she looked like Mrs. Mallard" said the mouse. Chrissy shook her head. The air around them blew harder and they all bundled their long sleeved shirts around them.

"And of course, we all know that that Launchpad McQuack fellow is always over there. Does he live there or something?" continued the mouse woman.

Chrissy shrugged. "Hard to say. Would explain a few things. Like why Mr. Mallard isn't married and why he adopted, if you get what I mean." She looked away with an air of distaste. Her two friends looked away as well, both blushing.

Clearing her throat, the mouse woman said, "Well, be that as it may, the point is… its because of him our neighborhood is now in danger. John said he wouldn't mind taking care of the matter and just turning Mr. McQuack in, but he's been so busy with work he hasn't had the chance. Someone ought to."

"Why should we?" snapped the blonde, looking up at her two taller friends, slightly outraged.

"Why shouldn't we, is the real question!" fought back Chrissy.

Chrissy and the mouse lady both looked at their blonde friend expectantly. The shorter blonde looked between both of her friends as she thought of the best way to explain herself. "Well, think of it this way. If he's turned in, he's going to die."

An eerie silence filled the air, none of them wishing to speak, but the blonde continued. "Negaduck is after him and everyone knows that's nothing but trouble for you. It's not our choice" she continued.

"It most certainly is! It's either McQuack dies for partnering up with that Darkwing jerk to begin with or innocent lives are lost! What do you think about that, Carol!"

Carol made complete eye contact with Chrissy, keeping her ground. "And do you think Darkwing Duck won't come after the person who turned in his sidekick?"

The mouse lady and Chrissy both gave Carol curious looks, not having thought of that possibility. "He wouldn't do that. He protects people, not hurt them" pointed out the mouse.

"Yes, but how would you handle the situation he's in? I mean, how does anyone handle a situation like that? When you're torn between saving someone you obviously care about or taking care of a whole city? How do you handle that?"

Her question went unanswered as they both heard the sound of a door opening from across the street. All three women looked over and saw Drake Mallard step out onto his front porch and walk out towards his mailbox, wearing his usual pink shirt and vest attire. All three of them tried to act inconspicuous as he glanced over at them before reaching into his mailbox. He flipped through his mail and glanced up at them once more as the three of them turned their gazes away, acting as though they were busy. With a grim look on his face that they could see even from across the street, he bid them a quick, half-hearted wave before walking back into his house and shutting the door.

The three friends said no more as they all went back into their respectful houses.

Drake shut the door behind him with a sigh, the mail he had just went out to collect still in his hand. It was mainly junk mail. Nothing of real importance. He sighed heavily. More stares from the neighbors and now gossiping. That was the last thing he needed. It had just been the evening prior that the news had come on about Negaduck's threatening note to Darkwing Duck. Of course, the short mallard hadn't been able to get an ounce of sleep since.

Launchpad was a fit of paranoia and Drake couldn't blame him at all. He would be too if he were in the pilot's position. Sighing, Drake tossed the mail on the small table next to the couch uncaringly and walked into the kitchen, where Gosalyn was eating some cookies as she worked on her homework.

Stopping in front of the stove, Drake looked over at her, seeing that for once her full attention was on the homework in front of her. No whining, no grumbling, no reading comic books underneath the homework, no doodling instead of writing. Just properly doing her homework.

"Are you okay, Gos, sweetie?" asked Drake in a gentle, fatherly voice.

Gosalyn flinched at the sound of his voice and looked up, almost looking frightened. It made her father's heart break a little. "Oh, yeah, dad….I'm okay. Just…doing my homework…like you asked" she replied, her voice quivering slightly.

"You're not handling this very well, are you?" he asked quietly, stepping closer to her chair and running a hand through her red hair. Gosalyn looked back down at the homework in front of her.

"Just doing my homework…." she repeated as she stared at the table before her.

Drake frowned, a saddened look on his face. He took the back of her chair and pulled it out, pulling her away from her homework. She said nothing even as she dropped her pencil as her father scooped her up into his arms. Gosalyn turned a bit in his arms and held him close, burying her face into his chest. Drake whispered kind and gentle words into her ear for several minutes as he stood there in the kitchen, rocking her gently.

Gosalyn sniffed as she fought back the tears in her eyes when she finally emerged from his vest. "I just don't wanna lose Launchpad. I can't stand the thought of losing anyone."

Drake knew this very well. This had always been a touchy subject for Gosalyn. Having lost her parents and her grandfather in such a brief amount of time and having to be sent to the orphanage, Gosalyn never dealt well with loss. Drake held her closer to him as he gave her a warm smile.

"We're not going to lose Launchpad. I won't let that happen, I promise. We're going to head to the Tower once we're all ready and we'll be safe there. Launchpad is already there and we'll be joining him shortly."

Gosalyn wiped away her tears, sniffing and nodding at her father's words. "He's terrified."

Drake nodded. "As he should be. But don't worry, we'll get through this, just like we've gotten through everything else."

"The neighbors-" began Gosalyn.

"Should mind their own business. Yes, I'm sure they know Launchpad is over here all the time, but they don't know anything for sure. They don't know that he practically lives here. It means nothing." interrupted Drake. "And the Muddlefoots won't say anything, as stupid as they can be. They like Launchpad too much." Gosalyn nodded, feeling much better. "Now come on, gather up your homework and you're stuff. We're going to the Tower. Pack a lot, we're probably gonna be there for a while. With all the neighbors poking about and being nosy, its too risky to come back and forth all the time through the chairs, even with the windows covered in curtains and blinds."

"Won't they notice we're gone?"

"Does it matter? They won't know where we're at" her father pointed out. Gosalyn nodded as Drake set her down on the ground. She zoomed across the kitchen and up the stairs. As she did that, Drake gathered her homework, which he noted she had purposely forgotten. He sighed as he walked into the living room where his suitcase was laying. He placed her homework inside the suitcase with a sigh. He knew Launchpad was going to be a wreck when they arrived and he just hoped that he would be able to comfort his friend.

He then gave a wary glance over at the blue chairs that had been used so many times in the past few years.

The waves from the water front crashed against the large stones of the shore as the night drew closer, the sunset giving off a colorful hue of oranges, reds, and purples. Seagulls and other birds squawked as they flew by looking for any leftover food anyone had left by during the daytime.

Standing tall and alone near the small cliff that led to the water below stood the tall and luminous St. Canard Lighthouse, the current disheveled hideout to Megavolt.

Inside, at the top of the Lighthouse, sat Megavolt and Quackerjack, looking about the large room that once held all of Megavolt's luminaries, home appliances, contraptions built for taking over St. Canard, and most importantly, his treasured belongings.

At Megavolt's feet, where he was sitting on a beaten old wooden chair they had found in the closet, laid a medium sized, slightly torn up box labeled 'Elmo' on the side. Inside the box contained some of his belongings from when he had still been known as Elmo Sputterspark and long before his Megavolt days. Inside he had found old award badges and small trophies for his academic achievements as a high school student. Other things inside were old clothes he had once worn and just simple memorabilia, such as old school photos of himself, library receipts, school notes he had written, and a few other miscellaneous things.

Quackerjack, who was standing behind him, looked down at the box disdainfully as he rubbed under his neck, a pout on his beak. He had been the one who had found the box hidden underneath what used to be a table covered with light bulbs. After removing the table and glass pieces, the jester had found it. Looking inside and seeing what all it was, Quackerjack had been able to figure out what it was.

Quackerjack disliked Megavolt's former self, Elmo. He found him boring and no fun. Truth of it was: Elmo wasn't Megavolt. Not really. And Quackerjack simply adored Megavolt. Yet as much as he hated Elmo, he knew Megavolt didn't and that the rodent wanted to keep that part of himself close now that he finally remembered his old self.

Grudgingly, Quackerjack had no choice but to simply go along with it, knowing it would otherwise upset his Megsy. The jester had tried to discard and rid the box before Megavolt saw it, but the rodent's sharp eyes caught it too quickly for the jester and demanded that it would be saved.

Now, looking down at it, Quackerjack knew he would just have to grit and bear it. He took his gaze off the box and looked down at Megavolt, who was still sitting in the chair. Megavolt's attention was focused on the nearly empty room they were now in. Most of what they had cleaned up had been a mess or beyond repair and it was pointless to keep most of it.

"This place seems so empty now. Was everything serious that beyond repair!" he asked aloud, looking up at his jester friend. Quackerjack gave him a wavering, guilty smile.

"What do you mean?" he squeaked, placing his hands behind his back and leaning back on his heels.

Megavolt turned slightly in his chair to look at Quackerjack more straightforward. "I told you that unless something was beyond repair, keep it. I might be able to fix it." His voice was more harsh and stern as he said this.

"Oh…." Quackerjack literally deflated, his hat slowly losing its buoyancy. "Well, umm….I guess I didn't hear THAT part. I just figured that if it was broken, pitch it!"

Megavolt stood, a deep frown on his lips as he glared at the jester, a growl escaping from him. "You mean you just threw EVERYTHING out!"

"Well, anything that was broken!" gulped Quackerjack in fear.

"That was pretty much everything!" shouted Megavolt in anger, throwing his arms up in the air. He gave out a loud grunt as he looked around the nearly empty room. All that was left were the few small appliances that he had found worthy to keep, for he knew he would be able to fix them. It appeared to them, when they had first arrived, that his electricity had nearly hit and broken everything while he had been under the control of Paddywhack that first night.

Now there was just a garbage bag filled with the dirt, dust, and shattered glass they had swept up. Quackerjack had already taken it upon himself to take care of the trash by having a dozen of his muscle teddy bears take the trash to the nearest trash dump.

Megavolt gave out another grunt of anger as his mismatched eyes continued to scan the room. Colorfully dressed arms wrapped themselves around his waist as Quackerjack moved in to give the displeased rodent a hug. "Please, Megsy, don't be mad…..I just thought I was doing what you told me to do…"

Megavolt whipped his head back to look at the jester, nearly bumping his nose against Quackerjack's large beak. " Why would I want to get rid of EVERYTHING? You should have known I would've been able to fix at least half the stuff you threw away!"

Quackerjack let go of Megavolt, taking a step back and pulling down on the ends of his hat, the bells at the ends jingling. "I'm SORRY!" he wailed childishly, looking as though he was on the verge of tears. Calming down slightly, he looked around himself, biting nervously on the tips of his fingers as he tried to think of how to fix the mess he had made. Then an idea hit him. His frown vanishing, Quackerjack turned to Megavolt.

"Megs, don't you have another hideout full of stuff!" he questioned, reaching over and playing with one of Megavolt's frayed whiskers. Megavolt flinched at the touch, swatting the other's hand away.

"No" he quipped coldly.

Quackerjack blinked at him. "Oh, sure you do! I know you do! You've mentioned it before!" insisted the childish duck.

"When?" demanded Megavolt, his anger still evident in his voice as he refused to look at Quackerjack.

Quackerjack stepped into Megavolt's line of sight, who quickly turned away, crossing his arms. Quackerjack, used to the rodent's stubbornness and temper, simply continued trying, taking a hand and running it up and down Megavolt's left arm.

"What? I have to know the time, date, and month? I don't know! But I know you have! Didn't you say it's on Ducklin Street?"

Megavolt took in a deep breath as his frazzled memory tried remembering where he had heard that name before. His deep angry frown disappearing, Megavolt finally uncrossed his arms. "That sounds familiar. Is it a pizza parlor?"

Quackerjack sighed dramatically, looking up at the ceiling. "There is no such thing as a non-confusing day around you, you know that?" Megavolt just shrugged, flicking off a piece of lint that was on his arm with his index finger. "My point is" pressed the jester as he pulled out Mr. Banana Brain and started playing with him. "….is that we could just go to your OTHER hideout and get your stuff from there!"

Megavolt swayed from foot to foot as he considered his options. "Quacky…That makes sense… since when did you make sense?"

"Never!" giggled the childish clown, giggling so hard he wrapped his arms around his stomach. As he giggled, Megavolt regarded the stuff banana in the other's hand.

"What happened to the other stuffed doll you had with you for a while?" he questioned. Quackerjack stopped his laughter and gave his friend his full attention, trying to understand what he was being asked. He looked down at Mr. Banana Brain.

"My other one?"

Megavolt nodded.

"Oh….You mean my stuffed Megavolt doll?"

"Is that what is it? " he paused, thinking it over. Quackerjack waiting and remembering when and why he had created the doll and wondering if Megavolt would remember. "Is that a new kind of toy you're making?"

Quackerjack just stared at Megavolt sadly, giving him a large pout yet said nothing. He gently took his knuckled hand and tapped the side of Megavolt's plug hat. This earned him a glare, which in turn, he ignored. "Come on, Megs, let's go get the stuff from your other hideout. No point in having two hideouts anymore, now is there, seeing as how you're at my hideout so much. We'll just take everything from there to here." The jester started pulling Megavolt's arm to follow him out the door and down the spiraling staircase of the lighthouse.

Megavolt sighed, following him. "Easy for you to say," he groused. "You're not the one who has to tell all his friends that they're suddenly leaving their precious homes to live somewhere else." They started going down the steps and Quackerjack's laughter echoed through the lighthouse as they descended down the stairs.

The glow from the city below softened the blackness of the sky which grew darker and darker with each minute as night drew closer. The hum of distant traffic filled the air around the Tower that over-looked the city from a distance. The chilly night air flew gently through the large stone windows of the Tower and entering the secret hideout of the caped crusader.

In the corner of the Tower, where Darkwing kept his large collection of books, sat Launchpad, in a small red cushioned armchair, sitting up as his elbows rested on his knees, hunched over slightly as he stared off with a guilty look of shame. He knew he was safe there at the Tower, but this fact didn't soften the heavy burden he now felt upon himself.

Not far away stood a tall curvy female duck in a long silk, blood red dress, heartbroken as her gaze watched over the distressed pilot. Morgana McCawber fretfully waited for something to happen. Launchpad had told her quickly that Darkwing and Gosalyn would soon be on their way to the Tower before falling into his pit of depression on the chair. Ever since she had started dating Darkwing, she had made it a habit of watching mortal news. It was not something she had ever done before, but she now felt it necessary to keep track. It allowed her to keep up with Darkwing and his crimes.

It was also what allowed her to know that Launchpad was up for murder. She had seen the news about Negaduck's letter and threat. Her heart had nearly jumped into her throat at the news. Not knowing what else to do, she had come straight to the Tower as soon as she could, which, thanks to her father, had not been until just several hours prior. Of all the bad timing, her father had decided to visit for the weekend. He hadn't been thrilled to hear that she was leaving him to see Darkwing, but she didn't care. She knew her father would never understand.

Morgana was not one to scare easily, but she jumped in fright at the sound of the blue chairs whirling around from across the room a few minutes later. Pressing a hand against her chest, she smiled when she saw that it was only Drake and Gosalyn. She knew there was very little chance of anyone but them coming up into the Tower, but after hearing Negaduck's threats, she was on edge.

Drake was still wearing his shirt and vest as he stood up; not having bothered to have changed to his Darkwing outfit.

"Oh, Dark, darling!" she cried out as she walked over to meet them. Launchpad never moved, as though he hadn't heard a thing.

Drake set his suitcase on the floor beside him and looked up with wide eyes at the love of his life. "Morgana!" he let out with surprise in his voice. She reached him and knelt down slightly to give him a hug. He gave her a hug in return, still in shock to see her. "Morg, sweetie, not that I don't love seeing you, but why are you here?"

Smiling and not taking any offense, Morgana gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before answering. "Oh, Dark, I heard what had happened over the news! As soon as I saw Negaduck's letter I knew I had to come! I would have come here sooner, but my father is visiting. I was just now able to come by."

Drake took in all this information as Gosalyn stepped up from beside him and greeted Morgana with a hug. "Keen gear, are you going to be staying here with us too! This is getting better and better!"

Drake gave her a stern look, which the red head just shrugged off.

Morgana turned her head to glance over at where Launchpad was sitting in the corner of the tower before turning back to give Drake a sorrowful look. Drake followed her gaze, being able to see Launchpad even in the dimness of the room. His beak formed a sad frown, not being able to look away. Launchpad had always been known for his optimism. To see the loyal pilot so depressed and stressed out was hard to witness. Not taking his eyes off Launchpad, Drake listened to what Morgana had to say.

"I'm worried, Dark, as I'm sure you are as well." She took a hand and swept it over the top of his head, playing with his feathers affectionately. "I would love to stay with you, if, of course, you want me here. I don't wish to be a burden." Drake shook his head in protest of her being a burden. "My father is visiting, but I don't care. He'll just have to wait or visit some other time. I want to be here for you."

Drake nodded with a distant look on his face. After a few moments, he finally turned to look at the witch, a small, sad smile on his beak. "Thanks, Morg, sweetie. We really appreciate it." Morgana beamed down at him and leaned down to give him a kiss. The feathers around his cheeks turning slightly pink at the gesture, Drake asked quietly, "How is he?"

Morgana's smile quickly faded as she glanced over to Launchpad as well. Gosalyn pushed her way between them, wanting to also look over to see how Launchpad was doing.

"Launchp-" started Gosalyn, but Drake quickly wrapped his arm around her, placing his hand over her beak and keeping her firmly in place. The young duckling struggled in his arms, but her father was used to her antics by this point and would have none of it.

Into her ear he whispered quietly but sternly, "Shhh, give him his space, Gos. He's going through a rough time." He released her, waiting to see what she had to say.

Gosalyn quickly whipped around to glare at her father. "I know!" she exclaimed in a high voice. "That's why I want to go over there to support him!"

Drake sighed, knowing it was a lost cause to argue with her. "Let me talk to him first."

Gosalyn stopped her glaring and gave him a curious look. "What are you going to say to him, dad? You're not going to stop having him be your partner, are you!"

Drake looked down at her incredulously. "Don't be silly, Gosalyn! I would never do that!" His eyes went back to Launchpad's form sitting in the chair clear across the Tower space. "I just need to make sure he's alright."

Stepping around Gosalyn, he left his two loved ones to check on his closest friend. Launchpad didn't even look up as Drake walked up to him, which concerned Drake even more on how the pilot was handling everything. Opening and closing his mouth several times, Drake wasn't exactly sure how to start. He fiddled with his fingers in a nervous way as he began, "Hey, LP…."

Launchpad flinched and looked up at Drake's greeting looking as though he was surprised the mallard was standing there. "Oh……..uh……hey, DW…" muttered Launchpad.

A heavy silence fell between them, one that left Drake feeling awkward and wayward. "You alright?' the short mallard nearly smacked himself in the face for asking such a lame question, for he already knew the answer. He fumbled for words as he tired to fix his error but only made it worse. "I mean,…ugh, of course you're not alright, I mean, anyone can see that- I mean- Not that it's noticeable….I-I mean…."

"It's okay, DW, I know what you meant. And no, I'm not okay. I'm a wreck, DW. I mean," the taller, more built duck finally sat up straighter in his chair. "Negaduck wants to murder me! And on top of that, if he doesn't get to me, he's going to get to innocent people in the city…and I-"

Drake stood there before him and waited for what he had to say. He could tell that whatever his friend was going to say next was hard for him. Launchpad was always known for being emotional when the right time came, but for some reason this time seemed different. The circumstances were different. Drake had seen him cry over events that took place in soap operas or other television shows, or perhaps some gushy love moment between two people, but as he watched Launchpad sitting before him, he could see that the emotions on Launchpad's face were different than the times before. They were more raw, more real.

"I've….given it a lot of thought….and…though it might hurt…for me…I would rather I be hurt than innocent people…." continued Launchpad in a soft, serious voice.

Drake took in a quick breath, his eyes widening. "L-Launchpad…what are you suggesting!"

The tall pilot refused to meet Drake's eyes, looking away. "That….I hand myself over to Negaduck…."

Time seemed to stand still for Drake. He just continued to stare at his best friend, his sidekick at crime fighting, trying to comprehend what he was being told. Somewhere to the right of him, he heard Gosalyn cry out in retaliation.

"NO LAUNCHPAD!" Drake snapped out of his thoughts at his daughter's cry, turning to look at her just in time before she whirled past him.

Gosalyn rushed up into Launchpad's arms, startling the pilot, who caught her, leaning back into the chair. Gosalyn buried her face in Launchpad's chest and Launchpad could feel wetness coming through his shirt. It was a moment later that the older duck realized she was crying. She folded her hands into fists as she grabbed onto the front of his shirt, sitting in his lap as he wrapped his arms around her. Through her tears she said, "You can't do that Launchpad….We love you too much! And I couldn't stand to lose you! I've lost too many already!"

Morgana had, at this point, walked up to Drake and was now standing behind him, gently massaging his shoulders as he tried to figure out what to say. When Launchpad finally met his gaze, he was met with a dark, glaring look. Still holding onto Gosalyn, who was trying her best to calm down, Launchpad just continued to watch Drake, wondering what his friend thought about his decision.

Drake shook his head, taking a few steps closer to the pilot until he was right up in his face. "No, Launchpad. I refuse to let that happen. We WILL think of a way out of this. I will not let you give up so easily! Screw Negaduck and his threats! I am Darkwing Duck and I refuse to let my friend give up his life just because some murdering psycho lunatic decides to threaten you!"

Launchpad looked away, a small smile on his beak. "Shucks, DW…..I….I really appreciate that. I really do." He chuckled a bit as Gosalyn emerged from his chest, wiping away more of her tears and sniffling. She was listening to what was being said. Launchpad looked down at Gosalyn, smiling down at her. "I…I guess I kinda lost it there…"

"It's to be expected, Launchpad. You're under a lot of stress" sympathized Morgana, who had decided to stay quiet while they had discussed things. Like Drake and Gosalyn, she hated the thought of Launchpad wanting to give himself up like that, but instead of giving her piece of mind, she decided to hold back for once, knowing Drake and Gosalyn would do a much better job at handling the situation.

Drake nodded, placing a hand on Launchpad's shoulder. "Don't worry, LP. We'll figure this out." He gave his friend a reassuring smile.

Gosalyn nodded, her hyper spirit coming back as her tears dried. "That's right, Launchpad! We'll get em'!"

Launchpad smiled at the encouragements of his friends, feeling a little better for the time in days.

The man in the black outfit stopped running, leaning over and having to catch his breath. He had just arrived in the darkened place, barely able to see anything for there was very little light. But he knew this was the right place he needed to be.

As if to confirm his thoughts, a dark voice hissed, "Well, did you do as I asked you!"

Gulping for breath, the black figure stood up straight, looking right in front of him, where he had heard the voice come from. He nodded. "Yes, the devices are in place."

The angry voice did not reply and the man in black knew he probably wouldn't get one. The boss was not known to talk much.

"Are you sure he won't be able to find it! I mean-with his specialties. And do you even know he'll go there!" asked the man in black, looking onward at the complete darkness before him.

A gun was fired and the man in black knew no more as the bullet went through his chest.

"Never. Question. Me." hissed Negaduck.

The engine of the Ratcatcher was all that could be heard as Darkwing sped down the street in downside St. Canard. His eyes were focused on the road before him, his helmet firmly on his head instead of his usual fedora hat.

"I really wish you would have just listened to me and stayed at the Tower tonight, Gosalyn!" he shouted angrily after the whirling wind around them.

Gosalyn, currently dressed as Quiverwing Quack, looked up at her father with annoyance. She rolled her eyes. "But dad, come on! Without Launchpad able to come out with you, I'm your only choice! And you said yourself earlier that things were much more dangerous this time around….What with Negaduck and everything."

Darkwing growled under his breath, now wishing that he had made no such comment. Just as he was about to open his beak in retaliation, he screeched to a halt.

Quiverwing gave him a look of confusion. "What is it, dad?"

Darkwing didn't answer, just glared on down the road at the old apartment building and at its top floor window. Quiverwing followed his gaze and a moment later, saw a bolt of electricity bolt through it.

"Let's get dangerous…." whispered Darkwing darkly.

In the downside of town, where thugs lined the streets, gangs rode their motorcycles and graffiti colored the brick walls, was one of the many villain hideouts in town. It was the top floor of an old beat up apartment building that had long ago been evacuated. Mainly because a certain electrical rodent decided the amount of electric frequency the building received and its close location to the city's power company would be beneficial to his experiments.

Said rodent was currently looking into his refrigerator inside the apartment room. He was staring intently at the light bulb in the back of the fridge that turned on every time it was open. The rodent muttered something darkly under his breath, only to cry out a moment later in apology. "No, no! I wasn't talking about you! I swear!" he reassured the small light bulb.

The sound of someone snoring loudly caught Megavolt off guard, causing the electrical villain to suddenly jump up in shock and hit his head on top of the fridge. "OW!" he moaned, taking his plug hat off and rubbing the spot where he had hit his head.

He looked over at the other side of the room where his red, beat up couch sat. The occupant of the couch was currently sleeping on his stomach, in a very awkward position.

Shortly after they had arrived, Quackerjack had started to whine about how tired he was. Megavolt yelled at him to shut up which only caused the other to start into a crying fit.

Just before Quackerjack had fallen asleep on the couch, he had declared that he would never speak to Megavolt ever again. Now, however, scratching the back of his neck, Megavolt could not remember the reason why. Perhaps it had something to do with how he had made toast for them both earlier that morning. Or perhaps it was because he had lost something important of Quackerjack's. It wouldn't be the first time.

Turning back to the fridge, Megavolt looked back the small light bulb just in time before the light bulb went out. Megavolt stood there dumbstruck for a moment, just staring at the light bulb, which was supposed to still be on. The door was wide open after all.

Megavolt gasped, becoming all dramatic about the utter tragedy of the light bulb burning out. He was up against the fridge, his head inside to get a closer look a second later. "NO! Bulby! You can't die on me, sweetheart! You have so much life ahead of you! DON'T GIVE UP NOW!" Silence greeted the now trembling rodent.

Then:

Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Annoyed from the sound, Megavolt leaned away from the fridge to look to his left where a small table was sitting. On it were all kinds of random objects, including a toaster, wrench, mixer, hot glue gun, an iron, a piece of an old sandwich, an extra pair of rubber gloves, and a half burnt light bulb shaped slipper. Among these items, was also an alarm clock.

Megavolt leaned down close to the alarm clock until he was eye level with it, staring at it intently. "Odd. I didn't know I had that brand of alarm clocks. It tends to use too much battery power than it should…. And I especially don't remember setting it."

The little clock continued to beep and just as Megavolt was about to reach up to press the button on top, the clock's face started glowing red and the beeping stopped on its own. Flinching, Megavolt took a step back, his eyes filled with wonder. "Oooh….. hmmm….I wonder what it was set for?"

"Honestly, dim watt, you'll never change" came a familiar deep voice, which made Megavolt squeak in alarm, turning and straightening up to look over at the window at the other side of the room. There, he watched as Negaduck climbed in through the window, coming to a halt once both his two webbed feet hit the wooden floor of the apartment.

Fear gripped Megavolt's heart as he remembered the last time he had been face to face with Negaduck, his memory finally working for once and remembering that fateful night at S.C.E.P. when Negaduck had tried killing him and the others. His thoughts then turned quickly to Quackerjack, who was still blissfully unaware of the situation as he continued to sleep on the old couch.

Megavolt made a move to open his mouth and wake him, but Negaduck cut him off. "Don't you dare wake him, otherwise I'll blow your head off" threatened Negaduck, his voice deep with hatred. Megavolt gulped as Negaduck pulled out a large gun.

Negaduck cocked the gun, which made Megavolt flinch as the short mallard started taking steps closer to him. "You know, out of all the members of the Four, I was always most interested in you, Megavolt. Only because your powers always seemed the most intriguing to me…..the most useful…."

"Y-You don't say" commented Megavolt nervously.

Negaduck glared at the electrical rodent from behind his black mask. "Oh, but I do… But sadly, you're so incompetent that you weren't even able to catch the little explosive box that is now sitting here in your hideout." Megavolt's mismatched eyes widened at his words as he immediately scanned the room for where it could be hidden. "Yes….I had one of my henchmen sneak it in here earlier today. Only he and I know where it's located and seeing as how he's probably half way to Hell right now, thanks to a simple bullet, I am now the only one who knows its location."

Megavolt felt the insides of his stomach churn as he tried to keep himself from freaking out, but he just couldn't. His eyes darted back over to where Quackerjack was still sleeping. He didn't want anything to happen to the jester. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if anything happened to him.

"Since your incompetence keeps you from staying alive, I shall now have the pleasure of killing you…" He raised the gun higher. "Goodbye."

"I DON'T THINK SO!" cried out Quackerjack and before Negaduck had a chance to react, the jester jumped onto the mallard's back and started hitting him and kicking him as hard as he could. The gun in Negaduck's hand lost its balance and Negaduck pulled the trigger, but the bullet shot up to the ceiling as Megavolt dodged out of the way. The gun dropped to the floor and was hit by Negaduck's foot as he struggled, sliding underneath a table. Seeing his chance, Megavolt shot a bolt of electricity at Negaduck, hoping his aim was perfect and it didn't hit Quackerjack.

In fact, it missed altogether and flew out the window behind them.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU SON OF A B-" screamed Negaduck, but Quackerjack choked the mallard before he could finish. Negaduck took his elbow and rammed it into Quackerjack's ribs, causing the taller duck to fall to floor with a cry.

Gaining his balance, Negaduck turned to look at Quackerjack and Megavolt, who were now standing next to each other, ready for the next blow. "You two are disgusting as ever. Just seeing you two together makes me sick."

A puff of purple smoke filled the air around the same window Negaduck had just entered. All three of them turned to look over at the window and all three of them groaned at the same time, knowing exactly who it was.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night, I am the unwanted guest at your family reunion, I am DARKWIIIIIING DUCK!" Suddenly Darkwing appeared before them, standing in front of the window as the smoke disappeared.

"And I am QUIVERWING QUACK!" cried out Quiverwing as she stood next to Darkwing.

Seeing this, Negaduck burst into laughter. The other four just looked at him in confusion. "'Quiverwing Quack! Hahahahahahaha. Is that really the BEST you can do!" he calmed down slightly, rubbing his stomach from laughing too much and glared up at the two heroes. "Where's your little sidekick, Darky? You know, the pilot…"he sneered. "I would truly LOVE to see him, Darkwing. In fact, I have a present for him…"

"Shove it, Negaduck!" spat Darkwing venomously.

"Oooh, such hostility, Darky." chuckled Negaduck. He looked back over at Quackerjack and Megavolt, who were cautiously waiting to see what would happen next. "Oooh, such a NICE turn of events…" He pulled out a small device from outside his pocket. Darkwing and Quiverwing, meanwhile, moved away from the window, and Darkwing stepped closer to Negaduck while Quiverwing got closer to the jester and rodent.

Without warning, Negaduck bolted over towards the window which Darkwing had just left unguarded. "Dammit!" hissed Darkwing, seeing his mistake.

Negaduck smiled at them with victory in his eyes as he toyed with the device in his hands. "And here I thought I was just going to kill off Megavolt and Quackerjack, but here I now see I get to kill off Darkwing and the little Darkwing-in-training too…." Darkwing gritted his teeth together in anger. "Here I have the remote to the explosive I had placed in here earlier and with one little click, you'll all be blown up while I safely get away."

Quiverwing moved to the side of Darkwing, next to the table, Megavolt and Quackerjack behind them. As she moved over, she accidentally hit the table, knocking off the little alarm clock Megavolt had been looking at earlier. As a reflex, Quiverwing caught the little clock before it fell to the floor, which caught the attention of Darkwing and the others. As she caught it, she pressed the top button. The alarm clock suddenly blew up with a small explosion, making the duckling scream out in fright and drop it. But the little heroine continued to cry out in pain as the explosion from the clock had burned through her gloves and onto her fingers. The clock was now a small pile of fire and ashes on the floor as Darkwing quickly reached her, wrapping his arms around her from behind and trying to calm her down.

"Shhh, it's okay!" he whispered to her frantically, trying to be soothing as his eyes kept flashing up at Negaduck, who was contentedly watching with pleasure. Quivering had tears rolling down her cheeks from the pain. She hated showing weakness, especially in such a time as that, but she was in so much pain, and her father's gentle hands weren't helping any.

Meanwhile, all Megavolt could do was stare at what had just taken place, knowing that he had almost pressed the button on the clock a few minutes prior. He whipped his head around to glare at Negaduck, "HEY! Just how many traps did you set up in my hideout anyways! You just mentioned the one!"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder about" shrugged Negaduck uncaringly. "But for now….so long, idiots!" He raised his hand in the air and pressed the button on the small device just before he hopped out from the windowsill and out into the safety of the night.

Time seemed to stand still inside the apartment until an earsplitting sound of explosives going off reached all four sets of ears as the walls around them shattered and splintered into pieces. Fire now consumed the floor they were in, surrounding them as they all looked around frantically. Smoke stung at their eyes and the fumes covered the insides of their lungs as they all started to cough heavily.

"Megsy!" cried out Quackerjack, covering his beak with one arm and reaching his hand out to grasp Megavolt's with his other. He had almost lost Megavolt in a fire already and didn't wish for it to happen again. He gave out a cry when a wooden beam fell down, nearly hitting them both. As it fell the end of his hat caught on fire, making the jester yank it off and drop it, now hatless.

Megavolt gave out a shout of agony as ash fell onto his arm, burning through his rubber suit and onto his arm. Rubbing at the fresh wound, he looked about themselves. "Oooooh…..this is BAD!" he wailed. "This is the WORST place to have a fire! A LOT OF THIS STUFF COULD BLOW UP AT ANY MINUTE!"

Quackerjack, Darkwing, and Quiverwing froze at it dawned on them that Megavolt was right. They gave a dreading look around the room, now more aware than ever that they were in a room filled with appliances, including several appliances that contained oil and gasoline. And in the corner of the room sat a propane tank.

Darkwing, his arms still around a now sobbing Quiverwing, quickly lifted her up, seeing the door to the apartment. He knew he had to act and had to act fast!

"THIS WAY!" he shouted as loud as he could. Following the purple clad mallard, the three of them quickly ran down the steps, with Quivering in Darkwing's arms. They continued to run another flight of stairs before they reached ground level and ran outside of the building, out as far as they could run, and into the night air. Moments later there was another large explosion and the entire top of the apartment building was a large ball of fire raging out of control.

Author's Note: Well, I was finally able to finish this chapter up. I think it turned out quite nicely. Sorry, no Bushroot or Liquidator fun in this chapter. But don't worry, you'll see plenty of them around later on! J I wanted to end this chapter with a BANG! Not to mention a cliffhanger. I think I succeeded. LOL A very LONG chapter. I had planned to have a lot more in it, but it was getting too long.

I really hope you enjoyed it! Please give me a nice long detailed review! I LOVE those. Plus, they let me know the do's and don'ts. What people like and what to keep doing!

Thank you so much for all the support! J


	3. Chapter 3

Broken Ties

Chapter 3

Large fluffy snow flakes began to gently fall toward the Earth from the light gray clouds above. The wind blew gently against the glass windows of the Greenhouse that stood on the hill at the outskirts of St. Canard. The air was cold against the glass, causing the windows to fog up from the warmth inside. The humid air inside was exactly what the Greenhouse fauna needed to survive the harsh winter that was to come.

Inside the thick nest of trees, grass, and bushes inside stood Reginald Bushroot where he sorted out his plants and decided what he wanted to do with them. His plants were unhappy, he could tell. They were telling him of their distress. Little voices in his mind told him that they were upset with their current lifestyle and they wanted to be moved elsewhere where they could receive a better place to grow.

Bushroot, standing in the center of his Greenhouse, surrounded by his loyal plants, gently shoved aside a large banana tree that was trying to grow. He pushed back its large thick leaves so that he could get a better look at the situation before him. His yucca plants were not happy in the least. They wished to be moved elsewhere. However, the rust colored lilies beside them complained that if the yucca plants were moved, they would not receive the same amount of shade that they were used to and get too much sun, which, they told him, would fade out the brilliant colors of their petals.

'Master, you can't move the yucca plants!'

'Yes, they will take away our shade!'

'And all that sun will fade out our colors!'

The lilies continued to complain as Bushroot, finally satisfied with where he was now standing, placed his leafy hands on his hips and glared down at the ground and plants before him in concentration. He looked up at the tall glass windows above, noting that the sun wasn't even out at the moment, for it was hidden behind gray clouds filled with snow.

It was moments like this when Bushroot felt as though he was dealing with a bunch on dramatic high school students. Worrying that the sun would fade their petal pigments, indeed. The sun wasn't even at its brightest during the winter months of the year. Perhaps if it were during the summer months, the mutant plant duck would have more sympathy, but not in the beginning of winter. His fauna kept him company and kept him from feeling lonely and suffering from monophobia, but they, as anyone else, could seriously get on his nerves.

Whispers from on looking trees settled into Bushroot's mind. Grimacing, Bushroot knew that the trees were already gossiping. Trees were terrible gossipers.

"Well, I don't see what you want me to do about it" grumbled Bushroot in his baritone voice, referring to the lilies. "The yucca plant is absolutely right, it has to be moved. And as for your petal pigments, I assure you, you'll be fine!"

Bushroot winced as he heard the lilies retaliation to their master's decision. He was briefly reminded of a group of girls he had once known in high school who did nothing but complain about their flawless looks. A moment later he looked away entirely as he remembered how desperately he had tried to get those said girls to notice him from time to time. Bushroot shoved the memories away, not caring to continue thinking about them. High school had not been a pleasant time in his life.

'Are you going to move me, master?'

The yucca plant's question pierced through Bushroot's thoughts. The mutant opened his eyes and glanced down at the plant before him.

"Yes" he answered.

A symphony of cries and complaints met Bushroot's ears as the lilies cried against their master's decision, but he ignored them. He knew they would be fine and he disliked moving his plants without it being entirely necessary. As this was, for the yucca plants was very unhappy and starting to wilt where it was located. Unlike the lilies, who just wished to stay bright and brilliant in color, this was a more pressing matter.

Raising his vine-like arms, Bushroot summoned the yucca plant to rise from the ground with his plant powers. The yucca plant slowly began rising, its roots all moving back and forth as they slithered from the ground and began trying to walk clumsily. Gesturing his arm forward, the yucca plant followed and Bushroot began to back up, being mindful of the plants behind him as his crystal blue eyes stayed focused on the yucca plant. Several feet away, he had the yucca plant stop and dig its roots deep into the ground, getting comfortable in its new home. In this new location, the yucca plant would receive more shade and get a better water supply.

Content and thrilled that he had made the plant happy, Bushroot smiled and beamed at the yucca plant, rubbing his hands together.

"Better?" he asked the plant.

'Very much. Thank you, master.'

Bushroot opened his beak to reply, when a scuffle of sounds came from the back of the Greenhouse. The mutant flinched at the sound, immediately wanting to know what it was. In the back of his mind, he knew that Liquidator was still lurking somewhere in the Greenhouse, unless the liquefied canine had left without his knowledge. Bushroot's mind reeled as he tried to figure out what Liquidator, if it was even him, was getting into, analyzing where the sound had come from. It was near his desk and filing cabinet where he stored all his old files and records from his youth. Back in the days of non-mutant Dr. Reginald Bushroot.

Bushroot then gave a start as his eyes went wide, realizing what it was Liquidator could be getting into. Unable to see because of the plants, he raised his arms and cried out, "MOVE!"

Immediately all the trees and plants moved their leaves and limbs to make their master's view more clear on the back of the Greenhouse. As he had expected, there stood Liquidator. He gasped as he saw what Liquidator was doing and immediately set forth to stop it, tripping over his own root feet in the process. He gave out a small yelp and quickly stood, taking a few more steps, only to trip over a bush a moment later.

"Ow."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Stealth had always been one of his specialties. He knew very well where his little sapling was poking about. He heard him mumble about something to do with a yucca plant and lilies. It made him smile.

Liquidator had never been one to notice the small things in life. His goals and intentions had always been more in tune with the larger view of life. The bigger goals and dreams. Until now. It was mystifying to him, how suddenly the little details seemed so important to him.

Taking his liquid hands, he went through the filing cabinet in the back of the Greenhouse, looking for his prize. He had taken the extra step and found himself a pair of rubber gloves so that the papers and books he touched did not get ruined. The gloves he wore resembled Megavolt's. In fact, Liquidator admitted to himself with a sinuous grin, he had stolen the gloves from the rodent some time ago. He knew the electrified villain had a large stash of gloves and wouldn't miss them.

The folders, books, and papers he held now protected by the rubber of the gloves, Liquidator was free to do as he wished. All he had to do was make sure he didn't splash around too much with his liquid arms. Giving a low grunt, Liquidator put down the file that he had just skimmed through, finding nothing of interest inside of it and reached into the back of the filing cabinet. He fingers grasped onto a thin hard cover book. Pulling it out, Liquidator discovered that it was a yearbook.

Beaming at his luck, he immediately started leaping through the book. On the brown cover it announced that it was the Class of '87 year book of St. Canard High school. All of the pages were covered in black and white photographs of high school student after high school student. Cheerleaders, football players, scholars, and everything else that Liquidator could think of. But there was only one person in mind that Liquidator was interested in. As he went through, he did recognize a few of ex co-workers that had once gone to the school. Bud Flood had not gone to St. Canard High school; he had gone to a high school in Duckberg and then later on moved to St. Canard in hopes of better business.

Near the back of the book, Liquidator was beginning to wonder if it was even Bushroot's yearbook at all, having not seen any indication that it was. He recalled the mutant plant hybrid saying that he had a sister. Perhaps this was her yearbook that he still had and not his own.

Yet finally, after nearly giving up, Liquidator came upon the last class of the yearbook and his dark liquid eyes searched for the "B" section since everything went alphabetical.

Liquidator blinked down at the little person in the image.

"Ow…" came Bushroot's groan of pain.

Liquidator didn't have enough time to react, for he was still staring at the picture before him, deep in thought, before leafy hands grabbed firmly onto the yearbook and snatched it back with all their might.

Flinching and caught entirely off guard, Liquidator jolted a bit as Bushroot took away the book, turning with wide eyes to see his green friend staring at him. Bushroot seemed slightly out of breath and looking very offended.

"What are you doing! Don't look at this!" he shouted in anger. He clutched the yearbook close to his bare chest, wrapping his vine-like arms around it protectively.

"Curious? Thirsty for knowledge? Unsatisfied with the lack of communication between you and your loved one? That's alright, leave it to Liquidator to find and explore the unknown facts and data your loved one is withholding!" answered the ex-salesman in his typical jargon voice.

Bushroot just stared at him, his frown growing deeper and deeper with each word the Liquidator spoke. "I'm not holding anything back! I've told you all about my schooling career. Everything you'd need to know…."

The liquid canine raised his finger into the air, moving it back and forth in a disciplinary manner. "Ah, ah! You should have read the fine print below which states that the Liquidator is never satisfied with just the simple facts but needs a more visual understanding of his loved one's past." "V-Visual?" stammered Bushroot, clutching the yearbook even closer to his chest.

Liquidator took a step forward, which only made Bushroot take a step backward. "Indeed, why, everyone knows that visual aid helps seal any deal!" he concluded with a smile. He stretched his liquid arm over to Bushroot, bending it and stretching it in only a way a dog made of liquid could. He wrapped his arm around Bushroot and rested his right hand on the other's left shoulder. Bushroot flinched at the touch, but not because he wasn't expecting it, but because of the rubber gloves that was still being worn on the hand. Bushroot looked over at Liquidator's hand, seeing the rubber glove and giving his liquefied partner a puzzled expression.

"Ahhh, the gloves" chuckled Liquidator. "Didn't want to ruin the artifacts with my destructive liquid hands, now did we? Water is a mortal enemy to paper, might I remind you…"

"Well, either way, there are no 'visual aids' here! My picture isn't even in this yearbook! So don't-" Bushroot was cut off in mid rant.

"I saw your picture, Reggie" spoke Liquidator gently, not bothering to let Bushroot finish. Knowing from first hand experience, Liquidator knew that the deep green that Bushroot's face was turning indicated that he was blushing furiously. Now numb from this bit of news, Bushroot barely registered when Liquidator gently pried the yearbook away from him and opened the book back up to the page that contained Bushroot's high school picture.

"What are you so embarrassed about?" asked Liquidator. "Personally I think it's a fine quality picture of you!"

Bushroot blinked as he came out of his trance and numbness and looked down at the picture he was referring to. His past self, a senior in high school, smiled awkwardly back at them. The young duck looked as though he wished he were anywhere else besides getting his picture taken. Pale white feathers, a small flop of fine black hair on his head, and crystal blue eyes that were the only thing that matched his present mutated self. That and his orange beak. "I…didn't have very much self confidence back then…."

Liquidator moved up close to Bushroot. "And you're insinuating that you have lots of self confidence now?" he couldn't help but sneer a bit.

Bushroot closed his eyes and groaned. "No….But I sure as heck have a lot more now than I did then!"

"You mean there is a step beyond self loathing and depression?" inquired Liquidator teasingly.

"I'm not that bad…" muttered Bushroot darkly. "I'm just glad you didn't find the pictures of me from the University…." The moment the words left his beak, his eyes went wide and leafy hands went straight to covering his mouth. The liquid canine didn't miss a beat and was back at the filing cabinet a moment later, rushing through the files in search for the pictures Bushroot had mentioned.

"Hey! Stop it! I don't want you to see them!" cried out Bushroot as he went to try and stop his friend. However, Liquidator would have none of it and took his watery, bendable body and created a large hand, capturing Bushroot inside of it and lifting him up in the air while he continued his search. Bushroot struggled with all his might to get out of the vice like grip Liquidator now held him in.

"LIKKY!" he shouted in fury, trying to pry himself out of the liquid hand that was now binding him in midair. "Why do you want to see them so badly!"

"Because ever since you made that comment in Paddywhack's world about you being glad I would never see your pre-mutated self, I've been dying to know! You know what I looked like before MY mutation and I only wish to know what YOU looked like before yours!" Liquidator quickly went through the filing cabinet, searching as quickly as he could without making a mess. After several long minutes of tedious searching and having to hear Bushroot shout out in protest, did Liquidator finally find his prize.

Liquidator cried out in triumph as he pulled out a folder that he knew contained the pictures he was looking for. Seeing that the canine had found the pictures, Bushroot stopped his struggling, an angry pout now playing on his beak. Liquidator lowered him from his liquid prison and set him on the ground. The mutant plant duck just stood there, his eyes hidden behind his purple petal bangs. Liquidator, still having not looked at the pictures, cocked his head to one side at Bushroot.

"Is this really bothering you that badly?" he asked without using his salesman's voice. He found that his usual jargons would not be welcome in a time like this.

"Yes" snapped Bushroot quietly. Without warning, Bushroot lunged toward Liquidator, his vine like arms stretching farther than the normal in hopes to snatch the pictures away from his friend before it was too late, but his actions were too slow compared to Liquidator's, who dodged it immediately.

"Ah, ah, ah!" scolded Liquidator teasingly. It was then that he looked down at the pictures Bushroot was so hateful toward. The first photo of Reginald Bushroot was an enlarged ID print out, which had, at one time, allowed him to enter the private labs. Since it was just a black and white print out, the quality of the small picture on the ID was not the greatest. But it allowed Liquidator to get a better idea of what Bushroot had once looked like.

The ex salesman hated to admit it, even to himself, but he could now easily understand why his Reggie had been so against him seeing his former self. He could easily understand the low self esteem the small mallard hybrid had once felt. The black fine hair that Reginald had in high school was now practically gone save for a few strands and there were terrible bags under his eyes. It was obvious he had gone bald at a young age.

Bushroot crossed his arms and looked away as Liquidator turned his attention to the other photo. This one was a group shot of the lab crew Reginald had once worked with. A tall, attractive woman with glasses, Rhoda Dendron, if he remembered correctly, and the two short, heavier ducks, Gary and Larson. And in the front, stood Reginald. Even in the picture, Liquidator could see the awkward smile on Reggie's face, the slouch, and bad posture. He looked so much shorter than he actually was because of the way he arched his back when he stood.

Lost in thought as he stared at the pictures before him, Liquidator was caught off guard when Bushroot suddenly grabbed them from his grasp, glaring at him. He held the photos and file folder tightly in his leafy hands as though he was going to tear them down the middle, but he didn't. Liquidator took this time to take off the rubber gloves he had been using, no longer finding a use for them.

"Happy now!" hissed Bushroot.

Liquidator, now feeling guilty for reasons he couldn't explain, gave a meek reply. "Yes."

Timidly, Liquidator reached out a liquid hand and grabbed onto Bushroot's wrist. Bushroot, still in a foul mood, just glared at him behind his purple petals. "It's okay, Reggie. I was just curious. I don't like you any less than I did before. I'm happy now that I've seen what you looked like and it won't be brought up again." He gave him the most sincere smile he could manage, but Bushroot still deduced that it looked sneaky. Giving him a wry smile, Bushroot put the photos away, shutting the filing cabinet.

"What was with the bad posture?"

Bushroot whipped around, his eyes wide. "It was stress! And in my defense, I never noticed it was THAT bad!"

"How could you not notice! You were probably a foot shorter than you should have been because of it!"

"Oh, who asked you!" hollered Bushroot in anger and frustration, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Pre-mature balding?"

"Runs in the family" grumbled Bushroot.

"Got the shallow end of the gene pool? Not satisfied with your hygienic, natural appearance? That's alright, just try Bushroot's experimental formula and become a part Lyceum Nycanthropus plant and duck hybrid!"

Bushroot rolled his eyes, coaxing a tree to move it limbs over so that the flowers below could get more shade. "Oh, yeah, that's EXACTLY why I experimented on myself…. " he turned his attention to a small shrub. "Never mind the intentions of good I had planned by attempting to cure world hunger! Never mind that I risked everything for the state of man kind and NOW look how they treat me!" He turned away from the shrub at this and waved his arms up in the air a moment before crossing them over his chest, scowling out at the snow that was still falling outside.

There was silence for a few minutes as Bushroot just continued to scowl out at the snow, waiting to see what Liquidator had to say next. When another few moments went by and still nothing from Liquidator, Bushroot turned his gaze and scanned the greenhouse floor around him, not spotting the liquid canine anywhere.

Bushroot then flinched slightly when cool liquid arms wrapped their way around his waist and he felt the tickling, enjoyable pleasure of a gentle rush of water on his cheek as Liquidator kissed him. "I love it when you're all worked up…" whispered Liquidator.

"Why, because it's amusing to you?" groused Bushroot, not only because he was annoyed at Liquidator but because he knew Liquidator's gentle caress and kiss were already distracting him, which was the other's whole intent.

"No….because it proves to this satisfied consumer just how much you care and how determined you are!" countered the canine, slinking around Bushroot so that he was standing in front of him now. Bushroot's anger and annoyance quickly vanished as Liquidator took a finger and raised the mutant's chin up for a kiss.

The kiss never took place as a loud explosion from the right of them sounded throughout the area. Even miles away, the explosion had been so intense that it had been heard at the Greenhouse. Both villains glanced over to their right, forgetting the kiss as curiosity struck them both.

Faintly, beyond the snow, the two of them could see a loud mushroom of fire, smoke, and ash coming from the bad side of St. Canard. The fire raged on and sirens from far away could be heard, more than likely the police and fire departments.

Both mutants looked at each other, a knowing look in both sets of eyes. "That looks like it came from Megavolt's hideout, doesn't it?"

"Only time will tell for this observation" was all Liquidator said.

Bushroot shivered. "I wonder what happened. You don't think it's Negaduck, do you?"

"Why do you think that?"

"He said he'd come back and get us eventually. And Negs isn't the type to make empty threats…." the plant hybrid pointed out.

"True, but let us get more facts before we jump to conclusions and button down the hatches!"

Still unsure and quite doubtful, Bushroot just pushed himself closer to Liquidator as they continued to watch the fire and smoke rage out of control.

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The fire still roared on even as the firefighters tried with all their might to put out the terrible, out of control flames. Every fire fighter in St. Canard was currently trying to put the fire out before it spread to the other buildings on the block, a large thick water hose in each of their gloves hands. The entire road was blocked off, filled with police cars, fire trucks, and the media.

Behind the police and fire fighters, TV reporters and interviewers got their equipment out from the back of their vans and trucks and started to set up, ready to cast the live report on the explosion as they gathered and interviewed for more information.

Among the large, ever growing crowd, stood Kat and Samara. Kat, still yearning for her chance to prove that her theories about the Fearsome Five have broken up, beamed in delight at the new turn of events. Samara, even more reluctant to help her friend, just gave her a pessimistic glance as the other woman looked on at the raging fire.

"See!" Kat cried out, throwing her arms out in emphasis toward the fire as she looked back at Samara. "This is what I've been trying to tell you! This was said to be a possible hideout to Megavolt, a member of the Fearsome Five!"

Samara seemed far from convinced. "So?" She raised an eyebrow.

The dark haired raccoon scowled at her. "SO! Sources say that Negaduck was seen around this spot earlier today! Before THIS happened?"

The disbelieving canine known as her friend just continued to stare at her. "What does THAT have to do with anything? Sources are ALWAYS saying they see Negaduck off and about, but does that ever help us! NO! Because he's impossible to catch!" Kat opened her mouth to say something, but Samara continued, not letting her say anything. "Besides, Negaduck being spotted near Megavolt's hideout? What has that got to do with anything? They work together, don't they?"

"Not according to my theory!" butted in Kat, pointing a finger at Samara. The canine just rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. She leaned down and grabbed the camera equipment.

"Please don't tell me you dragged me all the way over here from my busy office desk, to help you with your 'theory'?" she snorted.

Kat gave Samara an almost pleading look. "Please, Samara! You're the only one willing to do it!"

"Willing!" shrieked Samara incredulously.

Kat shushed her, looking about them and seeing that some of the other reporters and firemen were glancing over at them. "Please, Samara! Now, look, last time we didn't have much to work with, because all that happened was Negaduck's letter, but if you let me run this story, I'll be ever so grateful to you! You won't regret it!"

Samara didn't reply right away, only looked hard and long at Kat and her pleading look. "Alright, fine. I'll help you. But this better be worth it! And have you even gotten permission yet!"

"Yeah, Steve said I could run the story?"

"In his way or YOUR way?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm doing it my way regardless."

"That's what frightens me…." muttered Samara, but even so she got the camera set up and Kat grabbed her microphone. Making sure that neither of them were in the way, Kat stood in front of the burning remains of Megavolt's hideout as Samara focused the camera on her, having it roll. The live stream was set up in the truck that they had come in. Beaming, Kat began her story.

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The news station aired Kat's story involving her theory on the Fearsome Five's break up of the team. The raccoon stared into the live camera that Samara was aiming at her and began her story for the live coverage. Behind her raged the remains of the fire that had destroyed Megavolt's hideout.

Wearing a white jacket and blue scarf, the snow coming down evenly, Kat spoke her thoughts about what was going on in their city.

"In the last six months, an outrageous amount of stories have been covered involving the top five criminals: The Fearsome Five. Now, going back six months, we remember the chilling day when all plants in St. Canard ran amuck, trying to take over our fair city. Bushroot, mutant plant duck criminal, was charged for these offenses, which, thanks to our daring vigilante, Darkwing Duck, was stopped. But not after the devastating fall of the large oak tree that had climbed the St. Canard Research building.

The mystery of this situation is baffling, since eyewitnesses from other high buildings claimed to have seen a fight break out between Negaduck, leader of the Five, and the other members. Perhaps the Five are no longer a group.

Several weeks later, the explosion at S.C.E.P., St. Canard Electricity Plant, involving 6 security guards with severe burns. The suspect at the time had, of course, been Megavolt, the electricity fiend that he is found to be. Thanks to some recovered security tapes from the building, there was coverage and more evidence to prove a falling out between the group.

After suspicion of the falling out in the Fearsome Five group, we wonder if it means anything to our fair city if the group is together or not. Our question was answered when Quackerjack, the mad toymaker, nearly murdered J. Meddle, owner and creator of Whiffle Boy. Having made his hate for Whiffle Boy known, it wasn't hard to figure out why the childish villain attempted the murder. However, thanks to Darkwing Duck, Meddle was saved.

With the Fearsome Five no longer a group, we fear that St. Canard might now be at risk, not only from Negaduck himself, but of the other insane members of the former Five. With them no longer under the tight restraints of Negaduck, are they more of a danger to us? What have they got planned for our city? We will bring you more when we get it. Over to you Michelle."

Kat finished her story with a large grin on her face, watching Samara turn off the camera and set the equipment down. She turned around to look at the remains of Megavolt's hideout, which was now just smoldering ash. Hopefully now people would see things her way.

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The snow fell silently as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon as the night fell upon the city of St. Canard. The night was dark, filling the streets with an eerie feel of cold and fright. Navy blue hues now filled the sky, gray clouds hiding the stars for the night as snow danced down from them and onto the ground below.

The tall haunted looking house that rested along the many streets of St. Canard seemed cold and empty from the outside. The moods of those inside were about as cold as wintry weather outside.

Deep inside the house, inside the large living room, Darkwing gently and fluently brushed the cold wet washcloth against his daughter's sensitive fingers. A table, which was the home of a lamp, picture frame, and some books, was now the medical table since it was now covered in bandages, ointments, and band-aids. Darkwing was half standing, half sitting beside it and behind Gosalyn, who was still half dressed as Quiverwing Quack. Her mask was off, along with her hat and quiver of arrows. Her father's warm arms were wrapped around her as he bended over her shoulder to get a closer look at her fingers, muttering soothing words to her as she bit back tears of pain.

Her fingers were red and swollen, most of the feathers having been burned off from the miniature explosion that had taken place at Megavolt's hideout just before Negaduck blew it up. The small alarm clock that she had picked up was the cause of her burnt fingers. 'Stupidly picked up' she told herself bitterly in her mind.

Her fingers were giving her severe pain but she tried to be strong. She hated crying and didn't want to be seen as a crybaby, even though Darkwing had reassured that she could cry and he wouldn't think she was anything of the sort.

'It's okay, Gosalyn, you can cry. There's nothing wrong with crying. I know it hurts…." he whispered to her as he continued to treat each individual finger. He was gently patting the fingers with a cold washcloth before putting on an ointment that would help heal the burns. He then was gently wrapped her fingers with in bandages and securing them with tiny pieces of gauze tape.

"I….j-just hate the thought of crying…And….it was a stupid mistake…" sniffed Gosalyn, berating herself for making such a dangerous error while crime fighting.

Darkwing nodded. "It's alright, Gos. It happens. I mean, you're nothing close to how good I am at crime fighting -" He stopped when Gosalyn looked back up at him with a piercing look. The older mallard chuckled and pulled at his collar with his free hand. "Well- You know what I mean….I….You see ME make mistakes all the time….Well…maybe not ALL the time…." Another piercing, knowing look from his daughter. "Wha-! HEY! I'm not THAT clumsy!" This earned him a smile on his daughter's beak.

"Thanks, dad" smiled Gosalyn, looking back down at her fingers. Darkwing gave her a gentle hug from behind, resting his beak down close to her ear.

"I love you, my little girl blue" he whispered into her ear.

"Love you too, dad" she whispered back in reply.

As Darkwing continued to nurse Gosalyn's burnt fingers, Morgana and her father, Moloculo, stood conversing with themselves on the other side of the room. They were the closest to the large window that looked outside at the falling snow. Moloculo, however, was far too busy fuming to even think about the beautifully falling snow outside. Much to Morgana's distress, her elderly monster father could not stop glaring at Darkwing and Gosalyn. His eyes burned into the side of Darkwing's persona, his arms crossed and his beak down turned into a snarl.

"Daddy!" scolded Morgana quietly. "Would you please just let it go!" She was referring to her father's hatred of Darkwing and the very fact that he was a mortal. It still pained the older monster duck to see his beloved daughter reduced to dating such a low class, unappreciative, egotistical mortal.

"Why are they here again?" he forced himself not to hiss at her. He hated talking to her rudely.

Morgana sighed. She glanced over at the corner of the room where Launchpad was sitting in one of the chairs she had. The pilot had been silent during the entire ordeal. From what Darkwing had explained to her briefly about was that after the explosion, Darkwing had gone back to the Tower, grabbed Launchpad, in fear of leaving him alone too long, and came straight there, where they knew they would be safe. They had taken Darkwing's car instead of the Ratcatcher or Thunderquack. The one he drove as Drake Mallard in hopes to get less attention as Darkwing.

Launchpad hadn't said a word after greeting her and sitting down in the chair. He kept looking over a piece of paper, a letter, it looked like, and kept reading it over and over. The witch hadn't the slightest clue what it was that he was reading, but whatever it was, it was making him silent and distant.

Remembering that her father had asked her a question, the same one he had asked several times by this point, she cleared her throat and said quickly, "I told you, daddy. Gosalyn got hurt while they were on patrol and here was the closest, safest place they could go."

"Didn't you say he had gone back to pick up the tall one?" Moloculo pointed out heatedly. "Why didn't they just stay there! Surely it's safe enough, wherever it is!"

Morgana didn't know fully why Darkwing had decided to come to her home, but she knew he must have a serious reason. Of course, she didn't have that much time to talk to him, since he had been in such a rush to attend to Gosalyn's wounds.

"I don't know, daddy!" sighed Morgana, exasperated by his behavior. "It doesn't matter, he's here now, so get over it!"

Moloculo just continued to stand there, tall and dignified in his tattered suit and top hat, his cane in his right hand, glaring at Darkwing. Even after the events that had taken place before, when he had turned Darkwing, Gosalyn, and Launchpad into monsters, the two male ducks still refused to acknowledge each other's worth and continued to despise the other.

However, Darkwing was far from being bothered by such tension and hatred the two of them had for each other at the moment; practically ignoring Moloculo's presence all together. He couldn't be bothered with rivalry and such, not when Gosalyn needed his fatherly attention.

Morgana, antsy and wishing to help her darling Dark, waved her arms in the air in a erythematic way and her spell book appeared before her. Moloculo said nothing as he watched her daughter flip through her spell book, obviously searching furiously for something.

"Dark" she called over to Darkwing after several moments of searching.

Darkwing glanced up from bandaging Gosalyn's fingers in curiosity. "What, Morg, sweetie?"

Moloculo visibly flinched and scowled at Darkwing's words, but it went unnoticed.

"Well, I was just wondering if you would be needing any assistance with some of my spells. I'm not the greatest at healing spells or healing potions, but I am willing to give it my best effort" offered Morgana kindly. Darkwing inwardly winced, knowing from past experience that Morgana and her spells were usually well meaning, but often times ended up going foul.

"Oh, sure, Morgana! You can try out one of you uber cool spells!" exclaimed Gosalyn as she tore away from Darkwing's grasp and walked up to the witch, half of her burnt fingers being wrapped up.

Morgana smiled warmly at the young duckling, grateful for her faith in her spells. However, her gaze turned to Darkwing, who was in the process of standing up and walking over to them. "Well, Dark, would it be alright?"

Feeling Moloculo's threatening stare upon as he awaited his answer, Darkwing refused to look at him, instead looking at Morgana and trying not to appear nervous. He fiddled with his fingers. "Well…..s-sure….Morgana…sweetie…you can try that…"

"You doubt her! You still doubt her!" accused Moloculo immediately, taking his cane and pointing it at Darkwing.

Affronted and appalled, Darkwing took a step back, now glaring up at the old monster with a sneer. "I most certainly DO NOT! I'm letting her perform the spell she wants to use, aren't I!"

"Yes, but you stuttered! You're afraid! Afraid she'll mess up! Therefore you doubt my daughter and her powers!"

"ENOUGH!" cried out Morgana. Darkwing and Moloculo shared stunned looks as they looked over at her. She turned to her father, who immediately wore a guilty expression. "Daddy, I've had enough of you! If you won't behave than I'll have no choice but to turn you into a wart frog for the rest of the night!"

Moloculo raised his hands up in a gesture of surrender, chuckling nervously at her threat. "Oooh, but Morg, sweetheart- No need to get fussy with daddy….Just listen-"

"No, daddy! You listen! I know you don't like Dark, but he's important to me, so just let us be! I know this is interrupting your visit, but that's just how it goes! Now go to the kitchens and see what Auntie is getting herself into!" she ordered her father, pointing towards the kitchen. When Moloculo had yet to move a moment later, she snapped, "GO!"

Cowed, Moloculo roughly pushed past Darkwing, who grumbled in return, and slunk out of the room and into the kitchen. Morgana then turned to Darkwing, who gulped, fearful that his Morgana was upset with him too.

"Thank you, Dark, darling, for giving me a chance" she told him quietly. Relaxing, and seeing that he was in no danger of Morgana's anger, Darkwing smiled back up at her. "You're welcome, Morg, my love."

"Okay, okay! If all this mushy stuff is over, I still have burnt swollen fingers that are KILLING me!" moaned Gosalyn loudly.

Morgana started with a cry of excitement, going back to her spell book and looking up the chant for the spell. Darkwing watched for a few minutes, but his mind turned away from the healing spells as he remembered that Launchpad had been with them. He glanced around the room, looking for the pilot. He spotted him in the chair Morgana had left him at earlier and saw that the pilot was reading something.

Curious, he looked back quickly to see if Morgana and Gosalyn were okay, which they were, and walked over to his best friend, quietly, hoping not to disturb him.

He needn't bother, since it appeared that Launchpad was so wrapped up in his thoughts, a tornado wouldn't get him out of them. It was rare to see Launchpad so deep in thought. Darkwing hated admitting that, since it wasn't nice, but he knew it was true all the same. He knew this whole problem with Negaduck's threat was taking its toll on the pilot, but he just didn't realize it bothered him THAT much.

Feeling like a snoop, Darkwing bent down slightly, for which Launchpad still didn't acknowledge, and read the back of the paper Launchpad was reading. Darkwing felt his body tense when he read the front of the letter Launchpad was reading. He would know that symbol anywhere. Anyone who was anyone knew what that symbol meant.

It was Scrooge McDuck's stamp. And on closer inspection, Darkwing could see Scrooge's letter sealer on the cream colored envelope in Launchpad's other hand. Not just anyone received a letter from Scrooge McDuck, let alone with his own personal letter sealer on it. Darkwing tore his eyes away from the letter and looked into Launchpad's concentrated face. Launchpad had once told him of how he had been Scrooge's personal flyer before he had gotten wound up with him and helping him fight crimes. He also knew, by just how highly he spoke of Scrooge, how important the richest duck alive was to Launchpad.

"Oh, uh….DW!" came Launchpad's voice, snapping Darkwing out of his thoughts. "I…uh….didn't see you there ..hehehe…." Darkwing watched as Launchpad quickly and stealthy folded the letter and hid it from him. Launchpad gave him a look of guilt, which Darkwing purely understood, but didn't say anything. He knew Launchpad felt bad for keeping something from him, but at the same time, Darkwing didn't have the heart to point it out. Instead, he gave him the best smile he could.

"It's okay, LP" What have you got there?" he asked, referring to the letter.

Launchpad stood from his chair, sliding the letter into his back pocket. "Oh, that? Oh, hahaha…gee, DW, just some junk mail. Nothing important" shrugged Launchpad with a nervous laugh. Darkwing's laugh caught in his throat, which made Launchpad give him a quizzical look.

Both of them looked over to see Morgana crying out in alarm as all of Gosalyn's bandages started floating in the air. "Keen gear!" cried out Gosalyn.

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"I know, my bulby-wulby….I love you too…." cooed Megavolt as he pressed the light bulb up close to his left cheek, snuggling up close to the small light bulb in his blue gloved hands. His crazed eyes were closed behind his purple goggles as a smile played on his lips. A spark emitted from his whisker and fizzled out at the end of it. "Oooh, as soon as I build that Power Grid 500, things are going to be a LOT different around here…"

He was sitting on one of Quackerjack's many beanbag chairs deep inside the jester's Toy Kingdom, having been left at the hideout after Quackerjack left for some "playtime". Megavolt knew the jester had a sweet tooth earlier that day and could only guess that the childish duck had gone to go steal a candy store.

Just as well, for it allowed the rodent to have some quality time with this light bulb. "You just continue to glow, you hear that, bulby? Just keep glowing for me…"

The iron doors to the Toy Kingdom opened and Megavolt opened his eyes to glance over at the doors, holding onto his light bulb protectively.

The familiar insane cackle rang through the air as Quackerjack entered the kingdom, giggling madly and barely being able to shut the door behind him as he nearly fell over laughing.

But it wasn't the sight of Quackerjack completely losing himself to laughter that caught the wide eyed rodent off guard, it was lack of seeing Quackerjack's shirt. It was true, instead of his purple, puffy polka dotted sleeved shirt, the jester wore nothing over his chest. His puffy purple clown pants were still on, along with his infamous jester hat, but no shirt.

Megavolt went to stand up, but tripped over the stuffing of the beanbag chair, falling back down in his seat. "Damn chair filled with beans!" He scowled at the beanbag chair. Trying a second time, he was successful, the light bulb still in his left hand. He walked up to jester who had yet to control his laughing rage.

"Quacky, where is your shirt?" enquired Megavolt.

Quackerjack stopped laughing, looked up at Megavolt, having been bent over from laughing, and immediately began laughing hysterically again. He pointed at Megavolt, who stood there, bewildered and wide eyed, his light bulb raised slightly in his left hand.

"Did you accidentally sniff one of your laughing gas capsules again?" Laughter was the only answer Megavolt received, which irritated him greatly.

"Oh, Sandra, you really can make me laugh!" Quackerjack finally got out between his giggles of glee.

Megavolt blinked, looking insulted. "Alright, now THAT nickname for me actually makes 'Sparky' not seem so bad. And that's saying something!"

Quackerjack hooted with laughter for another few minutes before saying, "I wasn't talking about YOU! I was talking about Sandra, the lovely little lady I spent tonight with!"

"I don't have any light bulbs named 'Sandra'. And even so, they wouldn't want to be with YOU all night. You scare them…" Megavolt explained, his crazed eyes turning to his own light bulb.

Quackerjack finally got control of laughter and wiped away a tear of joy. "I wasn't with any of your light bulbs, I was with a living breathing person, you silly little boy!"

Megavolt ignored this and decided to venture and ask while he had the chance. "What happened to you shirt?"

Quackerjack gulped down some more laughter and looked down at his bare chest. "Oooh, I must have left it at Sandra's" he muttered.

"You took your shirt off while you were at 'Sandra's' then walked home in the freezing cold without it!" exclaimed Megavolt incredulously. Quackerjack just looked up at Megavolt, all the laughter drained out of him as the ends of his jester hat hung limp. "Why would you take your shirt off-!" No sooner had Megavolt uttered his question, did his eyes go as round as plates and his mouth go slightly agape. Quackerjack just stood there, his hands behind his back as he swayed back and forth, a guilty pout on his beak. He waited for Megavolt to continue. "You-You didn't…You had-"

Megavolt was now shouting and Quackerjack quickly covered his mouth with both his feathered hands. "Shhh! No need to shout it to the world, Megs." With his free hand, Megavolt tried prying the other's hands off his mouth. Once he was successful, he continued. "You…..But that means…." he trailed off, then growled, "You cheater!"

It was Quackerjack's turn to wear the shocked expression. "Oh, you're one to talk, Megs. You're constantly having affairs with your light bulbs!"

Megavolt looked at the light bulb in his hand, then back to Quackerjack. "That has nothing to with this. The light bulbs turn off because you scare them, not because I'm having affairs with them!"

"Ugh! You just won't admit that you are just as much to blame as I am!" He pulled out Mr. Banana Brain. "It's true, Stu!" chimed the doll.

"Hey, don't point that thing at me! It could insult me…." said Megavolt airily.

"And for a good reason, too!" shouted Quackerjack, turning on his heel and walking towards the television.

Megavolt crossed his arms, seeing that the jester was walking over to watch TV, sitting on another beanbag chair. "Telly has been sick lately, I would prefer if you didn't use her" instructed Megavolt, however his words fell on deaf ears, for Quackerjack, still annoyed with his friend, tuned him out. Quackerjack quickly flipped through the channels, most of them being nothing but snowy static. "Told you so!" came Megavolt's taunt when most of the channels didn't work.

Finally, Quackerjack was able to find a channel that was working, but much to his dismay it was only the news. Sighing dramatically and leaning back into the chair, Quackerjack had no choice but to watch it. Megavolt walked up from behind the jester and watched the screen, interested.

Quackerjack started to hiss under his breath when Mr. Meddle came on the screen, appearing to be making a speech. Wary, Megavolt looked between Quackerjack and the TV, knowing how his friend could get when it came to the elderly rodent.

"I would like to announce how big of a threat the insane toymaker, Quackerjack, is to our city. To help our men in blue, I have donated 20,000 dollars towards the police department and announce that there will be an award for the capture of this madman. One million dollars will go to the officer who catches this madman." Meddle continued on about how he doesn't wish for anyone other than the police to try to catch Quackerjack for how dangerous it is.

"Only a million?" he looked back up at Megavolt. "Surely I'm worth more than THAT, Megsy!"

Megavolt looked down and regarded Quackerjack for a moment, before crossing his arms and looking away. "I'm not speaking to you at the moment" he huffed.

Quackerjack, still shirtless, jumped up from the beanbag chair effortlessly and went up to Megavolt. "Oh, come on, Megsy, no hard feelings, PLEASE!" Megavolt ignored him. "Would it help if I told you she means NOTHING to me!"

"A bit."

"And I say how much I disliked her company?"

"A bit more." Megavolt turned his gaze to the ceiling.

"How she wasn't NEARLY as electrifying as you…" whispered Quackerjack seductively. Still looking up at the ceiling, Megavolt blushed, but a moment later, he returned the seductive grin.

"Well, of COURSE she wasn't…" grinned Megavolt, his free hand sparkling. Quackerjack snatched the light bulb from Megavolt's hand, much to the other's protest and dropped it on the beanbag chair, leaning in closer to his favorite rodent and holding onto him tightly in an embrace. 'It's Plaayyyyytiiimmmeee!"

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Author's Note: Well, I'm very pleased with how this chapter went. Not nearly as much excitement took place in this chapter, but a few new interesting twists. Such as the letter from Scrooge McDuck that Launchpad had received. Yes, indeed that has been something I've been looking forward to. The Bushroot and Liquidator bit from the beginning of the chapter is actually part of an idea that I once had (and was going to write) before I came up with this storyline. That's just a taste of it. There was originally a whole story I had worked with and that was just the beginning part of it. The epilogue if you will. But, I highly doubt I'll do anything about it now, since I'm working on this story now.

I would also like to take a moment and thank Cheezey, Jamcub and, Snark for any and all ideas any of you have given me recently. And for your support. J

Lots more action is coming in the next chapter, I assure you. Lots of Negaduck in the next chapter. More action is coming, this chapter was just a bit of a breather, if you will. J Enjoy! Thank you for your support!


	4. Chapter 4

Broken Ties

Chapter 4

Snow fell softly through the air as thick gray clouds covered the sky above. Everyone out on the streets hurried along, burying themselves deep into their jackets and coats as they tried to stay warm. The Christmas season was quickly approaching, which meant that many people were hoping to start their early Christmas shopping.

This was one of the reasons Liquidator was currently sneaking his way into Cindy's Nursery, the largest nursery in St. Canard, instead of his loyal and plant loving partner in crime, Bushroot.

Liquidator remembered Bushroot's reaction earlier that morning, when he recalled what 'dreadful season', as he had put it, was coming up. Bushroot had shared with Liquidator the story of his first Christmas as a mutant and it been far from a pleasant one.

Liquidator could easily see why as he pretended to be a puddle underneath a table inside the nursery. Even there, at the nursery, shoppers were busily trying to figure out what they wanted to buy. Though this was nothing compared to when Bushroot had gone out to shop. There was still a good month before Christmas, yet the early shoppers weren't wasting any time nor were the sellers with all their low prices and sales.

Liquidator waited underneath the table for the best time to start stealing what was on the mental list in his head. It was a list that stated all that Bushroot would need for his plants in the coming winter.

After he felt it was safe to do some shopping, the Liquidator began his work. He slunk his way over to a table where there were some plant seeds and fertilizer being sold, staying in his puddle form. Seeing that there was no one around, Liquidator stood in his full height, no longer a mere puddle. Grabbing a bag of fertilizer, Liquidator was stunned when he heard a roomful of people screaming. He looked over to the other part of the store, seeing a cluster of shoppers all huddled together, scared. But what confused him the most was that they were not looking in his direction. Something else was causing the trouble.

Liquidator put the bag of fertilizer down, his interest peeked, and made himself taller so that he could see over the crowd. There, he saw Negaduck. 'That would explain the hysteria' figured Liquidator.

"MOVE ASIDE!" roared Negaduck, a small gun in his hand. The crowd inched their way to the side and allowed the duck to enter further into the store. As soon as he was passed them, they all ran for the exit, gone a moment later. Liquidator, puzzled as to why Negaduck would be in the Nursery to begin with, couldn't help but make his presence known.

"Are you annoyed? Are you not finding what you're looking for? That's alright, just use your local Liquidator to help you find what you need!" he announced in his jargon voice.

Negaduck, spotting Liquidator, walked up to the mutant, a blank look on his face.

"Ahh, thought I'd find you here." Liquidator perked his ears up in interest. "Just stopped by to see how Bushy was…" Liquidator's non-existent heart stopped beating, his liquid body going cold with fear. "He said you might be here…. "

"What did you do to him?" hissed Liquidator.

Negaduck snarled, disliking the attitude the canine was giving him. "It doesn't matter."

"Tell me!" demanded the ex-salesman.

"Excuse me? Am I mistaken or are you barking out an order to me!" yelled Negaduck. Liquidator went silent, much to Negaduck's satisfaction. "I thought so. You see, I went to visit Bushbrain" he began more casually. "His damn monster of a pet nearly got killed after biting me. But Bushroot stopped the damn thing in time and I didn't kill it."

Liquidator knew he was speaking about Spike. He could just picture his Reggie trying to calm down is protective pet in order to save it from being killed.

"And I had stopped by there merely to tell Bushroot….and yourself…that very soon I will be making another visit…I would now, but I have other plans to attend to….But I suggest the two of your watch your backs, for I will be there soon to visit again and it won't be an enjoyable one. For you two, at least." Negaduck cackled an evil laugh at this, finding it amusing. Liquidator, though, found it far from funny. He would have to stay with Bushroot from then on, not wishing for Bushroot to be by himself when Negaduck came for that visit. Without another word, Negaduck was gone in a puff of blood red smoke.

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Silence filled the warehouse as the rodent began to stir where he lay. Stretching and kicking his legs, Megavolt started making the overly large beanbag chair he was sleeping on jostle around until he made himself comfortable.

One part of the Toy Kingdom, personally created by the insane toymaker, Quackerjack, was the 'Playroom' as the jester preferred calling it. Quackerjack loved the Playroom, claiming it was where 'the best and kinkiest of games were played.' Of course, since the Toy Kingdom had been half demolished while Megavolt had been under the influence of Paddywhack, there was very little left of the Playroom. It had once been surrounded by giant building blocks, though now just old boxes filled with junk and toys.

Out of the building blocks used to be a sort of ceiling, for more privacy reasons, despite the extra secret location of the warehouse they were already in. However, those too were now gone. Inside the playroom were hundreds of pillows, stuffed animals of every sort, and bean bag chairs covering the concrete floor several feet below them. The stuffed animals, Megavolt had made sure, were harmless and without any of the deadly weapons Quackerjack usually had inside them. The bean bags were piled together so neither of them ever made contact with the actual floor. Blankets were all over the place as well; Thick, fluffy, colorful comforters that hid most of the bean bag chairs.

Quackerjack stirred slightly from all the movement Megavolt was making, scrunching his eyes shut in annoyance, yet stayed fast asleep. "Not now, mommy…" he muttered under his breath.

At his words, Megavolt jolted awake, startled slightly. All he wore was his pinkish red bathrobe; his helmet, goggles, battery, and jumpsuit missing. He pulled himself up onto his elbows, now laying on his stomach and tried rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He yawned once more before glancing over at Quackerjack, who was laying to the left of him.

Flashes of the previous night shot through his frazzled mind, remembering the way the jester had come home slightly drunk and without his shirt. It had made the rodent furious to even think that Quackerjack had spent time with someone else other than him.

Still half asleep, Megavolt moved over until he was practically on top of the jester, who was laying on his back. Without thinking, Megavolt immediately started kissing the other's neck, hoping the jester would quickly wake up. The rodent didn't understand why he suddenly felt the need to start kissing his best friend's neck; he just simply wanted to.

Quackerjack responded exactly the way Megavolt had hoped he would. The jester started giggling in his sleep, almost acting as though he was being tickled. "Ooh, stop it!' he chuckled, his large buck teeth showing as he grinned. "Megsy…."

Megavolt stopped kissing the other's neck, now a little more awake. He sat and waited for the jester to wake up, which was only a moment later. Quackerjack stretched and then finally opened his eyes and looked at his favorite playmate, who was now sitting back on his lower legs, looking at him sheepishly.

"Well…" sighed Quackerjack, pulling himself up into a sitting position. All he was wearing was his smiley face boxers, his cloth shoes, and his infamous jester hat. "Why can't I wake up to that EVERY morning, Megs?" he winked at his friend.

Megavolt blushed and looked away. "I don't know what got into me…" he looked down and adjusted his bathrobe slightly, remembering it was all he was wearing.

"I don't know either, but I sure do like it!" laughed Quackerjack. He leaned over and gave the rodent a kiss on the cheek before pushing himself back. Megavolt nodded.

"I guess…..after last night….after you spent time with that bi-"

"MEGSY! LANGUAGE!" cried out Quackerjack.

Megavolt blinked at him, an innocent look on his face. "Since when was 'bimbo' a cuss word!"

"Oh….." giggled Quackerjack, playing with the ends of his hat. "I could have sworn you were gonna say the word 'bi-" Megavolt covered the duck's large beak.

"ANYWAYS….as I was saying…." he let go of Quackerjack. "After you spent time with that bimbo last night….It occurred to me how….." Megavolt gulped, looking away. Quackerjack waited patiently, a large, childish grin of his face. "How…j-jealous….I felt…And…" the rest of the rodent's worse were mumbled too quietly for Quackerjack to hear him.

"What!" he said loudly, leaning closer to Megavolt.

"AND…." shouted Megavolt, turning red with embarrassment, "I guess that was just my way of showing ya how much I love ya…."

"Awwww…." gushed Quackerjack. He gave the rodent a hug, then pushed himself backwards. "So….other than that….how are you this morning, Megs? Other than kinky, that is…" The jester burst into a fit of laughs.

Megavolt scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know how I should feel. I am without a home after all…"

Quackerjack blinked at him. "You have a home. Right here!" he raised his arms and referred to the Kingdom. Megavolt shook his head.

"No, I mean, I no longer have a hideout. I was thinking…." he paused. "About something…." Quackerjack just waited patiently, grabbing a nearby teddy bear and holding it close. Megavolt wracked his brain as he tried to remember what he had been thinking about several minutes ago. "Now I've lost it…" he growled several minutes later.

"So, you're worried that you don't have a hideout anymore?" offered Quackerjack, guessing what he had wanted to say. Megavolt shrugged. "That's okay! You have stuff here, don't you!"

Megavolt let out an irritated sigh, his shoulders sagging. "Not really….I only have 1,249 light bulbs here….Not to mention only 3 toasters…."

"Only?"

"Yes, only…"

Quackerjack didn't say anything, just played with the hem of Megavolt's bathrobe, which the rodent didn't mind until the jester started trying to take it off. "Not now, Quacky!" hissed the electrical villain.

Quackerjack pouted and began to whine. "Oh, sure! You woke me up by kissing me passionately on the neck. What game do you THINK I'm gonna wanna play after that!"

"Slinky?" guessed Megavolt.

Quackerjack shrugged, looking impassive. "I was thinking yo-yo, but slinky works…" he gave the rodent a devious grin.

Megavolt shook his head, trying to stand up in the mass of bean bags, pillows, and blankets. "No….not now….I need to go liberate my poor luminaries!" he quickly made his way outside of the Playroom, nearly falling over several times in the process. Quackerjack just watched him from where he was sitting. "Oooh, you can be such a fuddy duddy sometimes, Megs!" He threw the teddy bear after him.

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Snow slowly fell outside the bare windows of the St. Canard Tower, but the heat from the Tower kept the cold air out as Gosalyn, Darkwing, and Launchpad stayed bundled up inside.

Gosalyn was passed out on the bed Darkwing once slept in every night in the days when he was by himself. The bed was hardly used anymore and he found that it was coming in handy since they were staying at the Tower so much.

Darkwing was laying on his stomach on the couch, trying not to fall asleep as Launchpad sat in the lazy boy chair across from him.

While Darkwing seemed to be lazily content, Launchpad sat in the chair and suffering from a bundle of nerves. Darkwing looked over at the pilot, seeing how distressed he looked and cleared his throat, making Launchpad look over at him.

"LP, if there is something on your mind, you can tell me…" he assured his friend. He knew Launchpad was nervous about something and in the back of his mind he hoped the tall pilot would talk about Scrooge's letter.

Launchpad fiddled with his hands, looking back and forth as he battled with himself. Darkwing could tell he was debating whether or not to say something. After several long minutes, Launchpad finally spoke up. "Ugh….Listen, DW. I have a confession to make…."

"Oh?" Darkwing sat up properly on the couch, showing that he was listening.

"Yeah….ummm….Last night, when you asked about the letter I had in my hand…I had said it was just junk mail…It wasn't. It was a letter…..from Mr. McDee-err…McDuck!" He quickly corrected himself, remembering that Darkwing didn't know of the nickname he had given the rich duck.

It was Darkwing's turn to look guilty. "Yeah….I know, LP. I saw it….last night,. You tried hiding it, but…I AM a detective, you know!"

Launchpad nodded, seemingly unfazed that he had already known about the letter. "Well, the letter he wrote to me said that….he wanted me to go there. To stay….where it's safe…"

Darkwing was silent as he let the words sink in. Then he cried out, "What! You mean, leave St. Canard!"

Launchpad shrugged. "I guess so. And I was thinking- DW, look, it kinda sounds like a good idea!" Darkwing didn't say anything, just sat in silence as Launchpad took his chance to explain. "He says I'd be safer there! He's very concerned about me! He's heard about Negaduck's threat and he knows I'm in danger! He only wants to help!"

Darkwing's expression turned sad as the truth of his words became apparent. "Mr. McDee's place is the safest place around! Negaduck would never suspect it! What do you say!"

Darkwing shrugged, sighing heavily. "What am I supposed to say?" he looked out one of the windows of the Tower. "I'm basically being told that I can't protect you here. I'm….being asked to leave my friend behind at some rich duck's place because I can't properly keep him safe…" This last sentence came out bitterly.

Launchpad bit his lip. "Don't be like that, DW! You know that's not true! It's just….I'm not any good here anyways! I'm in hiding! And if I leave for Duckburg, you won't have to worry about where I'm at…"

Darkwing turned his gaze away from the window and looked over at the bed Gosalyn was sleeping on. At length he said, "Alright, but Gosalyn is going with you."

"What!"

"I said, Gosalyn is going with you. I want her away from here. It's too dangerous."

Launchpad followed Darkwing's gaze over to the bed and slowly nodded. "Sure thing, DW."

Darkwing laid back on the cushions of the couch, curling up into a ball as he brought his knees up to his chest. He hated the thought of needing help from someone else to keep his loved ones safe, but he knew he wouldn't be able to. And that fact made Darkwing feel very small as he sat there on the couch in deep thought.

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Two hours after the two craziest villains of St. Canard woke up, the two of them were coming out of the second appliance store they had robbed that morning. Megavolt's infamous car, geared up with a matching plugs on the back and front of it, was parked outside the front of the store, which the two of them were exiting from. Both Megavolt and Quackerjack were carrying two large boxes filled with all kinds of electronics and hardware that Megavolt had wanted to liberate.

Several of Quackerjack's strong aggressive teddy bears were also carrying large boxes and taking them over to Megavolt's car. Megavolt beamed with pride as he looked inside the box he was carrying, thrilled that he was able to liberate as much as he did. The salesman who had been working at the store was now currently tied up by the jester's Tangled Jump Rope, made especially so it would be difficult for children to get themselves out of the jump rope when it wrapped around their ankles while playing jump rope.

Setting the box he was holding into the car, Megavolt looked over at Quackerjack, who was humming an offbeat tune. "Sure we got enough stuff, Megs?" the jester asked sarcastically, grumbling as he put his box inside the car.

Megavolt gave Quackerjack an affronted look, insulted. "Well, excuse me, Mr. I-Have-Enough-Toys-to-Fill-a-Whole Warehouse! Really! You're one to talk!"

Quackerjack placed his hands on his hips, both of them standing on the curb of the street next to the car. He leaned over towards Megavolt, his large beak in the other's face. "I'll have you know that having toys is FAR more fun and cooler than having a warehouse filled with light bulbs, toasters, and an endless amount of computer wires!"

"I couldn't agree with you more" came a deep, mocking voice.

Both duck and rodent froze at the sound of the voice, slowly turning around to see Negaduck standing there, several yards away from them. The sinuous duck in yellow casually stood there, an unpleasant smile on his face, his hands behind his back.

Megavolt kept himself from shivering as he dared a glance over at Quackerjack, who looked just as anxious and nervous. "Negaduck…" muttered Megavolt.

"Very good, Sparky!" sneered Negaduck in a sarcastic tone. He titled his head to one side, clapping his hands a few times before placing them back behind his back. "You actually remembered something!" Megavolt stiffened at his hated name, but bit his lower lip from saying anything about it. "So, what brings you two dolts to this end of town? Gonna send your teddy bears out on me!"

Quackerjack's jester hat drooped at this question, a large frown on his beak as he tried to figure out what to say. His working teddy bears stood at their feet, wondering what to do next. "What's up with you, Negs!" he finally managed to squeak, trying not to let the other mallard intimidate him.

"Not much. Just hungry for some roast duck…" replied Negaduck casually, taking a hand and looking at his feathered fingertips. Quackerjack's jester hat drooped even lower and his shoulder sagged a bit, glancing a worried look at Megavolt, who was staring at the sidewalk. Negaduck turned his gaze away from his hand and over to Megavolt. "And maybe some rat stew on the side…"

At these words, Megavolt grunted, stomping his foot down and turning to glare at Negaduck. "You know what! We don't have to be intimidated by you! We're super villains ourselves after all! Come on, Quacky! Let's teach this duck a thing or two about manners…" the rodent's hands began to glow blue with electricity.

Quackerjack just stared at him as though he were nuts, which, he was. "Seriously, Megs! THIS is the time you decide to grow a backbone!"

Megavolt turned to Quackerjack. "No, no, no. It's Bushroot who never grew a backbone…"

"SHUT UP, YOU MORONS!" screamed Negaduck. Both Megavolt and Quackerjack flinched at his scream, both being dragged back into reality. "Listen, I've been wanting to do this for a long time now and it would just make my day if I was able to accomplish my task…." With that said, he pulled out from inside his jacket a medium sized gun, and everyone involved knew it was loaded and ready to fire.

Quackerjack pulled hard at the ends of his jester hat, distressed. "L-Look, Negs, it doesn't have to be this way!" he wailed like a child.

"Oh, but it does…." whispered Negaduck dangerously as he checked to see if the gun was properly loaded and ready for fire.

Quackerjack looked to Megavolt, who met his gaze, both of them grinning. Within seconds, Quackerjack had jumped in the air, landing several feet in front of where he previously stood, landing on his hands and somersaulted to the other side of Negaduck, who turned around to see what he was up to, readying his gun. With Negaduck distracted, Megavolt bolted at the same time, moving in towards Negaduck, who was busy watching Quackerjack, and, with his hands glowing with electricity, the rodent tried grabbing the gun from the mallard.

Feeling Megavolt pulling at his gun, Negaduck turned his attention from Quackerjack and started wrestling with the rodent in hopes to get him away from his gun. The two of them struggled for the g un for several minutes as Quackerjack took this opportunity to throw some chattering teeth after Negaduck.

Still struggling with Megavolt over the gun, Negaduck yelled in shock as the chattering toy teeth snapped at his ankles and rear. "YOU DAMN THINGS!"

In a fit of rage, Negaduck yanked as hard as he could, enabling himself to get the gun from Megavolt's grasp. Without giving the rodent a chance to respond, Negaduck pushed Megavolt with all his might, causing the electrified villain to loose his balance and fall backwards. When he fell, his head collided with the light pole that had been behind him, his plug hat falling to the ground as Megavolt fell unconscious.

"MEGS!" cried Quackerjack in alarm. The jester started for him, but Negaduck, now recovered from Megavolt's attack, pointed the gun straight at the jester, who froze in his spot, his hands up in the air. The childish jester gulped in fear as he eyed the end of the gun that was now pointed straight at his chest.

Negaduck stood between Megavolt and Quackerjack, several feet apart from both of them. Megavolt was now lying on the ground, unconscious and Quackerjack knew he had no other choice but to stand there, knowing that if he tried anything else, he would only be shot faster.

Time seemed to stop for both of them as Negaduck started laughing. He took a moment to laugh, loving every moment of the situation. It was a loud vicious laugh which made Quackerjack cringe. After several moments, Negaduck got control of himself and smiled devilishly at the duck before him. "You have no idea how long I've waited, or how happy and thrilled I am that this moment has FINALLY arrived. There is no one to save you now, Chuckles. Not even your precious little princess over there is able to help ya this time…..hahahhaa…." He raised the gun to eye level, still having it pointed at Quackerjack's chest. "Sayonara, sucker…" His finger went for the trigger, starting to pull back on it. Quackerjack closed his eyes tightly, sweat pouring down onto his beak as he prepared himself for the blow. Hearing the shot was probably the last thing he'd hear before the blackness. Oh, how he hoped wherever he ended up they had toys…

Negaduck chuckled darkly under his breath as he pulled the trigger, when he felt something grab his ankle and an immense pain shoot up his leg. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" screamed Negaduck in pain, pulling the trigger at the same time that he dropped it, feeling jolt after jolt of electricity surge through his body. He crumpled to the cement a second later.

A gunshot rang through the air and Quackerjack's own scream of pain could be heard. Megavolt, having woken just in time, had crawled over and grabbed at Negaduck's leg and with all the power he could muster, electrocuted the villain mastermind. Just as Negaduck was falling to the ground, Megavolt heard the sound of the gun still being fired and he quickly rose to see Quackerjack writhing on the floor in pain, both hands pressed against his right leg, red liquid spilling out onto the cement around him.

Megavolt rushed to his friend's aide, his heart pounding heavily in his chest as he watched Quackerjack crying in pain and agony. Negaduck had missed and instead of shooting Quackerjack in the chest, had shot him in the leg.

The sound of Negaduck groaning several feet away pushed Megavolt into action.

""Meeeeeggggsss! It hurts…It hurts….Make it stop!" cried the jester, tears of pain rolling down his face. Megavolt knew he had little time, since Negaduck wouldn't be out for long. He quickly scooped Quackerjack up into his arms as best as could, nearly falling over in the process.

"Quacky…You have to help me…I can't carry you….Not with your leg like that! Come on, just limp over to the car!"

"I can't! I can't, Megsy! It hurts too much!" wailed the jester, placing his arm around the rodent's neck. Megavolt half dragged Quackerjack over to the car, where he helped him inside, glancing over and seeing that Negaduck was starting to wake up. He pushed Quackerjack inside the driver's side of the car, noting the heavy amount of blood spilling from Quackerjack's gun wound. Blood was everywhere. All over his gloves and jumpsuit, all over the sidewalk and street, now on the cushions of his car. Quackerjack's leg and foot was covered in blood as well. Megavolt forced himself not to gag, unused to seeing so much blood at one time. He pushed himself in the car, pushing Quackerjack to the passenger's side. Quackerjack cried harder and harder, unable to keep his pain inside as Megavolt slammed his door shut and turned on the ignition, slamming his foot on the gas pedal, causing the tires to screech and the car to start moving.

As Negaduck woke up and looked at his surroundings, Megavolt hastily turned down another street with his erratic driving skills, tires screeching in the distance. Seeing that the two of them had gotten away, Negaduck cursed loudly, ignoring the small blood bath around him. "Dammit!"

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Shaky hands clutched at the steering controls of the Thunderquack as the large duck head-shaped plane soared through the cloudy weather. Darkwing sat in his usual spot in the front passenger's seat, wearily watching a nervous Launchpad steer and fly the plane. A thick silence fell between the two front passengers, the only sound coming from Gosalyn's video game from where she sat in the back seat.

After several minutes, she groaned in discomfort, shutting off her small game system and tossing it to the floor with a clang. "Ughhhh!" she cried out in frustration. "How am I supposed to play video games when it kills my swollen and burnt fingers!"

Darkwing took in a deep breath, still feeling terrible for letting his daughter get injured at the crime scene while he had only been several feet away. He turned around in his seat to look at her, giving her a gentle smile. "Sorry, Gos. But hopefully your fingers will heal quickly."

"They better!" snarled Gosalyn, carefully crossing her arms over her chest. Her fingers were tightly wrapped in bandages, making them bulkier than she cared for. It was nearly impossible for her to do daily tasks without the aid of her father, which, in her mind, was one of the most degrading things she would ever have to be put through. Honker, however, being the ever loyal friend that he usually was, made her feel better, by pointing out that this would only make her fingers heal faster. Darkwing, of course, didn't mind at all that she had to help her so much. He actually found it adorable, seeing as how Gosalyn rarely needed help from him in anything else. He was finally able to help his baby girl. "I still don't see why I can't stay in St. Canard with you, dad!"

"Because, sweetie, your hands are still healing and I would just feel better if you stayed. You'll have a blast! LP tells me Mr. McDuck has three nephews. You'll be so busy playing with them, you won't even miss it." he told her.

Gosalyn just mumbled under her breath.

Darkwing turned back around and sat properly in his seat, slumping down only slightly after letting out a brief sigh. He glanced over at Launchpad, who still seemed nervous about the whole situation.

"Listen, LP, everything is going to be fine now. You're going to be safe with Mr. McDuck" consoled the vigilante. He watched carefully for the pilot's reaction. He turned his gaze away from his friend and out the plane's window. "Although, keeping all this a secret from me wasn't the best idea…."

Launchpad took in a deep breath and let it out, nodding more to himself than to Darkwing. "Yeah…..yeah, I know, DW. I just….This whole thing makes me nervous…" he seemed to have ignored Darkwing's last comment.

Darkwing shook his head almost incredulously. "Well, of course it does, LP! All of this has me nervous too! But we can't let our fear get the better of us!" Gosalyn scoffed loudly at his words, which made Darkwing immediately turn around in his seat. "What!"

"Ha! You're one to talk, dad! 'Can't let our fears get the better of us!'" the little duckling scoffed once more. "You need to start listening to your own advice, dad…"

Darkwing gave her a scolding glare before turning back in his seat. "I don't know what you're talking about! I happen to take great understanding in my own advice. If I didn't, why would I give the advice?"

"Just keep telling yourself that, dad…" mumbled Gosalyn from the back seat. Darkwing opened his mouth to say something, when Launchpad interrupted.

"Alright, here we are, DW, Gos! Duckberg! We'll be at Mr. McDuck's personal airport in about five minutes."

"Keen gear! He has his own personal airport!" cried Gosalyn in excitement, pulling off her seatbelt and darting over to the window so that she could see the view of Duckberg below them.

Darkwing dramatically rolled his eyes. "Ugh….of course he has his own personal airport, Gosalyn, what did you expect? He's the richest duck in the world."

Gosalyn shot him a glare from where she stood next to the window behind Darkwing's seat. "Oh, hush, dad. Let a kid have her fun!"

There was silence the rest of the trip to the airport, which didn't last long. Launchpad had not been kidding when he said they would be there only five minutes later. However, being Launchpad, he missed the landing location entirely and landed in the surrounding grass around the landing port.

Darkwing stumbled out of the Thunderquack with a disgruntled and slightly pained look on his face. "Yet another marvelous landing, Launchpad" he called over to his friend sarcastically.

Launchpad, who had gotten out on the other side of the plane, beamed for a moment at the condition of the Thunderquack, which seemed to be slightly wrecked, but not unfixable. "Thanks, DW!" he called over cheerfully.

Darkwing rolled his eyes as he helped Gosalyn down. The short mallard had just enough time to turn around when he heard a voice speaking to him, "Good afternoon, sir." The voice was deep and rich with a slight accent. Darkwing jumped a little and turned around, looking up to see a tall canine looking down at him along his long nose. Darkwing blinked at him, taking in the man's outfit, which consisted of a black formal suit.

"Oh, Duckworth! Hey! I haven't see you in ages! How are ya!" greeted Launchpad with enthusiasm as he walked up to the canine, setting their luggage down on the ground. He immediately grabbed Duckworth's hand, shaking it feverishly and causing Duckworth to nearly loose his balance.

Duckworth took a moment to compose himself before clearing his throat and saying, "The pleasure is mine, Mr. McQuack. I take it this is Mr. Darkwing and Miss Mallard?"

"Keen gear! What are you, like, a vampire butler or something!" demanded Gosalyn as she pushed her way passed her father and looked up at the elderly canine.

"You would hope so, wouldn't you?" sniffed Duckworth. "No, I am just a butler. Mr. McDuck sent me to come and get you. If you would just follow me to the car. I will get your luggage."

Darkwing silently watched the exchange that just took place, pursing his bill slightly. As Launchpad went to follow Duckworth, he pulled on the taller duck's sleeve.

"Hmm?"

"You were on the verge of tears in the Thunderquack, now suddenly you're a hyper little kid?" he asked. "And I don't like the looks of that guy…"

Launchpad blinked down at him. "Oh, it's only Duckworth! He's worked for Mr. McDee for years! And…I don't know, I guess just seein' him has brought back some memories…"

Darkwing said nothing as they went to the car, remaining silent for the rest of the trip to Mr. McDuck's mansion.

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It didn't take long for Duckworth to drive them to Scrooge's mansion and before Darkwing knew it they were walking through the doors of the mansion and being escorted by Duckworth to see Scrooge in his office.

Launchpad beamed as they walked through the mansion, looking around with excitement as memories filled him. The many times he'd been through the mansion and all the times he had taken Mr. McDuck on his treasure hunts for gold.

Gosalyn was just as excited and it took most of Darkwing's attention span to keep her in control. The red-headed duckling marveled at the sights around her. "Keen gear, this is cool!" she said as they had walked in. Darkwing, however, was a little less enthused as he walked behind Launchpad and Gosalyn, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. He was out of his league here and he knew it. He glanced up at Launchpad's expression, knowing that the other duck highly admired Mr. McDuck, just as he admired him as a crime fighter.

Darkwing snapped out of his thoughts just in time to keep Gosalyn from touching a vase that was on display. "Don't TOUCH anything, Gosalyn! Most of this stuff in here is more expensive than your life and my life put together!" he hissed into her ear. Gosalyn flinched at his scolding, retracting a bandaged hand from touching the vase. She turned and gave her father a guilty look.

"Sorry…." she replied meekly, raising her shoulders up.

Launchpad and Duckworth seemed oblivious of the incident as they continued up a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, Duckworth stopped at a door and turned, gesturing for them to walk inside. "Just step this way, sirs and miss."

Launchpad, Gosalyn, and Darkwing walked into the room as Duckworth instructed and there, on the other side of the room and sitting at a wide oak table, sat Scrooge McDuck. The elderly duck was writing feverishly on a piece of paper, unaware of their presence. As the trio walked in further, Duckworth, still at the door, cleared his throat and said, "Mr. McDuck, your guests are here."

"Oi, I told ya before, Duckworth, that I don't wish to be bothered until Launchpad arrives! Send whoever else dares come in here away!" growled the duck behind the desk. He had yet to look up and see who had entered the room.

"Mr. McDee!" cried out Launchpad, a large grin on his beak.

Scrooge jolted slightly at the sound of his voice and looked up, his eyes wide behind his small glasses. His frown vanished into a smile. "Launchpad, m'boy!" he called over. He dropped his pen, the paper he had been writing long forgotten, and walked up to Launchpad, who met him halfway. Scrooge allowed a quick hug from Launchpad, who had to kneel in order to do so, before taking a step back and regaining his composure and clearing his throat. He fixed his collar, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses as he glanced around Launchpad and at Darkwing. His glare was gone quickly as he moved his eyes over and they landed on Gosalyn.

"Ahh, and who might this wee lass be?" he smiled as he offered to shake her hand. Gosalyn smiled back up at him, about to shake his hand.

"I'm Gosalyn! You sure do have a lotta rich-looking statues and vases in here!" she said she went to shake his hand. Scrooge chuckled at her comment and shook her hand. Gosalyn hissed, remembering that her burnt fingers were still delicate to the touch. Scrooge flinched as soon as he noticed she was in pain, looking alarmed when he saw her bandaged fingers.

"Bless me bagpipes! I'm sorry!" he paused, getting a better look at her hands. "Now tell me, lass, what happened to your hands to made them be all bandaged up?"

Gosalyn ignored the pain and looked up at the elderly duck. "Well, they got burnt while dad and I were-"

"Roasting marshmallows!" interrupted Darkwing, giving Gosalyn a warning glare. Scrooge straightened up and frowned at Darkwing, not caring for the interruption. Darkwing returned the frown. "We were roasting marshmallows and the fire got out of control." Gosalyn nodded eagerly. Launchpad just awkwardly stood behind Scrooge, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He figured Scrooge would be a little uncertain of Darkwing, but he had hoped it wouldn't cause tension.

Scrooge gave the crime fighter a disapproving look, looking him up and down. Darkwing gritted his teeth and balled his fist, knowing he was being judged.

Though letting himself be intimidated was the last thing Darkwing wanted, so he took in a deep breath, ignoring Scrooge's scrutinizing looks and offered his hand.

"You must be Mr. McDuck. It's a pleasure to finally get to meet you" he said as warmly as he could.

"Aye, and you must be the infamous Darkwing Duck I've heard so much about" commented Scrooge as he shook Darkwing's hand.

"Yeah, that's him, Mr. McDee!" jumped in Launchpad before Darkwing could reply. "He's great! He let me be his sidekick!" Scrooge looked up at Launchpad, raising an eyebrow at his childish excitement. "And we've had some great times together too!"

Scrooge looked away from Launchpad as the pilot started rambling on and on about some of the fun times he has had on the adventures with the other duck, looking back over to Darkwing, his expression blank.

Darkwing stared back, unsure of what to think. He knew Launchpad thought very highly of Scrooge McDuck, but as he stood there before him, he couldn't see what was so great about him. Scrooge stood there, leaning on his cane casually, the little glasses on the brim of his beak, and his navy blue suit and shiny top hat finishing the outfit.

As Launchpad continued to speak, Scrooge cut him off, his eyes never leaving Darkwing. "Aye, lad, he sounds terrific." He paused and Darkwing could hear the undertone of sarcasm in the older duck's Scottish voice. Launchpad closed his beak, looking down at Scrooge expectantly. "It sounds as though he's a fine lad, with fine morals, and with gratitude for his lot. But what I don't understand….is if this laddie here was as great as you say, then why, Launchpad, m'boy, are you fleeing for your life?" Scrooge finally tore his gaze off of Darkwing and looked up to look at Launchpad, who was at a loss for words.

Darkwing growled under his breath, perfectly prepared to defend himself when Gosalyn beat him to it. "It's not HIS fault! Darkwing has been trying the best that he can to keep Launchpad safe! If he had a choice in the matter, Launchpad wouldn't BE in any danger!"

Scrooge blinked down at her, clearly surprised by her outburst. His eyes softened as he told her, "You know, lass, you remind me a lot of my three nephews, Huey Dewey, and Louie. You seem to have the same fiery spirit as they do" he chuckled, teasing her by gently poking her on the stomach with his cane.

Gosalyn beamed at the word 'spirit', remembering that her grandfather had always told her she had spirit and now her adopted father did so as well. "Spirit! I'll show you spirit! I'll bet they're nothing compared to me!"

Darkwing sighed, resisting the verge to roll his eyes. "Gosalyn, please…" he whispered to his rambunctious daughter. Scrooge, however, paid no mind as he had turned to Launchpad.

"That reminds me, the boys wanted to see you. I'll have Duckworth go and get them. And wee Webby too…" he told the pilot, looking past Darkwing and over to Duckworth, who was still at the door. "Duckworth, would you go and get the boys? And have Webby come along too. They've missed Launchpad."

Duckworth bowed and was gone a moment later. Just then, the sound of a door opening reached their ears and they all turned to the right side of the room, where Darkwing realized there was a door. Darkwing blinked at the duck who walked through it.

"Oh, Mr. McDuck! Here's the numbers you wanted-" Silence filled the room for a moment as Fenton Crackshell stopped dead in his tracks, blinking at Darkwing and Gosalyn. "Oh…"

"Aye, Fenton. Very good. Just put them on my desk and I'll see to them later" sighed Scrooge in a bored voice as he glanced over his shoulder to look at the other duck.

Fenton's initial shock wore off and he smiled at Launchpad. "Launchpad, good too see you!" he walked up to the tall pilot, shaking his hand.

Launchpad returned the favor by shaking his hand a little too roughly, making Fenton nearly lose his balance. "Hey, Fenton! Good to see you too! How's things with ol' Gyro?"

After recovering from Launchpad's handshake and rubbing the hand that had been shaken, Fenton replied. "Oh, he's fine. Still up to the old mischief!"

Scrooge sighed, seemingly irritated as he stood there, leaning slightly on his cane. "Ugh, Fenton….I think now would best be a good time for you to leave."

Fenton ignored him though, brushing off his comment with a shrug as he walked up to Darkwing. Darkwing gave Fenton an incredulous look as Fenton eagerly shook his hand. "Hello, Darkwing! Nice to see you again!"

Darkwing blinked at him, removing his hand from the other's shake. "Have we met!" It was stupid question to ask, since the two of them had met while Fenton had stayed with them several months back. But what he didn't understand was that how did Fenton know it was him! He had been Drake Mallard when he was around Fenton.

Seeing his mistake, Fenton faltered, beginning to stammer. "I-I…I…mean…." he laughed nervously. "It's nice to meet you!"

Darkwing gave Fenton a suspicious look. "Nice to meet you too…" said Darkwing uncertainly. Launchpad gave Darkwing a questioning look in which Darkwing just shrugged his shoulders in reply.

The door behind Darkwing and Gosalyn opened up and the crime fighter had just enough time to move before three identical male ducklings ran in and over to Launchpad.

"LAUNCHPAD!" all three of them cried in unison. Launchpad was tackled with hugs as they jumped all over him.

"Hey boys, it's great to see you too!" he told them. He snatched Huey, who was on his shoulder. Darkwing, having never seen them before, noted that they all wore the same outfit, although different colors. Huey, the one Launchpad was currently holding was wearing red. "Hey, Huey, how have you been!"

"Been practicing on my curve ball!" he informed the pilot.

"Great!" encouraged Launchpad. He set Huey down on the floor and grabbed Dewey and Louie at the same time, holding one under each arm. Both boys laughed at the way they were being held. Darkwing noted that one was wearing green and the other blue. "And how about you two?"

"Oh, the usual…" said Louie with a sneaky grin. He looked across Launchpad's chest to look at Dewey. "Right?"

Dewey wore the same sneaky grin. "Oh, yes. Up to the same old trouble."

"You can say that again, laddies!" piped up Scrooge as Launchpad set them both on the floor. "They're a handful" he said to Darkwing. Darkwing nodded.

"I can imagine. And I thought 'I' had it bad. I just have one trouble maker…" he looked down at Gosalyn.

"Oh, yes. Boys, this is Gosalyn Mallard" Scrooge introduced them to her. He looked around the group. "Gosalyn, this is Huey, Dewey, and Louie." He had pointed at each duckling with the respectful names. "Where's wee Webby?"

"Right here, Unca Scrooge" said the small petite voice of Webby as she squeezed herself past Darkwing and into the group of ducks in the room. Gosalyn gawked at Webby, taking in the pink frilly dress and bow she wore and nearly gagged. Darkwing noticed this and smiled. Without hesitation, the little duckling walked up to Launchpad and allowed the pilot to pick her up and give her a hug. Launchpad tickled her, making her giggle.

"Gee, Launchpad, I had no idea you had so many friends!" said Gosalyn, impressed by the affection her pilot friend was receiving. Darkwing nodded.

"Yeah, LP, I had no idea…" mused Darkwing.

"Aww, shucks." chuckled Launchpad, embarrassed. "Well, these guys were like my family before I met you guys!"

Darkwing nodded slowly, silently watching as the boys continued to ask Launchpad questions. Sighing, Darkwing knew this was for the best. He knew Launchpad would be safe with Scrooge and the boys and it was apparent that he was very well liked here. He felt guilty, still, that Negaduck had thrown him into the mess, threatening to murder him in that note. But Darkwing refused to take any chances, he didn't want Launchpad to get hurt. He looked down at Gosalyn, who was talking to Huey. He didn't want Gosalyn to get hurt either. That was why it would be best if the two of them stayed in Duckberg. Gosalyn was still upset about the idea, but perhaps now that she knew the boys she would be a little more willing to stay. How he hoped so.

Scrooge was the one who broke the merry moment by clearing his throat and tapping his cane hard on the floor three distinct times. Darkwing was impressed with how obediently Huey, Dewey, and Louie silenced themselves.

"Now that we've all seen each other…It's time for business." He turned to Darkwing, his expression cold and serious. "I take it you are willing to accept my offer?"

Darkwing nodded. "We wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

Scrooge nodded. "Hmmm….Launchpad thinks very highly of you, but I have yet to see anything worth taking notice. You are, after all, the reason he's IN this mess." Launchpad started at this. "Now, Mr. McDee, that isn't fair!"

Scrooge, his back to the pilot, raised his cane to silence him, his eyes never leaving the vigilante. "You go about your ways, looking for trouble-"

"Protecting the innocent citizens of St. Canard by super villains and criminals alike!" sneered Darkwing in retaliation.

"Be that as it may, laddie, but you still put others in danger. Such as Launchpad and…as I understand it….your own wee lass…." he glanced down at Gosalyn. Darkwing went pale, his face scrunched up in fury.

"Ugh, for the record, Mr. McDee, I willingly go along with DW on patrol…" Launchpad pointed out.

"I'm very aware of that, Launchpad" sighed Scrooge, offhandedly.

"Look, I know why you don't like me. It's because you think I'm a reckless fool who gets into trouble. And that's fine. I know I'm putting Launchpad at risk by letting him be my sidekick and I'm sorry about that. But he's my best friend too, you know. He's the kind of guy who would do anything for his pals. And I'm sorry I ever got him mixed up in all this. And that's why I've brought him here. Because…" Darkwing looked down shamefully at the floor, his fedora hat covering his face. "Because….you'll be able to keep him safe in a way I've never been able to. Same goes for Gosalyn…" he took a hand and gently grabbed her arm. Launchpad looked at Darkwing as though he was about to cry.

Scrooge nodded, stepping closer to Darkwing and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry, m'boy. I will keep your loved ones safe." Darkwing just gave a weak smile. Leaning in closer, Scrooge added, "But this doesn't mean I like you."

Darkwing shrugged. "Eh, I know. It's mutual, I assure you." Scrooge seemed impassive of his comment and turned away; used to being disliked.

"Umm…." mumbled Fenton, standing close to Darkwing and fiddling with his fingers. Darkwing gave him an odd look, wondering why the other duck looked so nervous. "Perhaps….it wouldn't be a bad idea to send Gizmoduck over to St. Canard…. You know, to help out."

Darkwing's eyes immediately widened and his whole body went tense. "NO!" Everyone stared at him. "Er…I mean, no. No…That…That won't be necessary…hehe…" he chuckled nervously, pulling on his teal colored collar. "I can handle things."

Fenton seemed upset about this. "B-But you might need his help!" he insisted. Gosalyn was about to open her mouth when Darkwing stopped her. "No…That's….okay. I'll be fine. Really."

Fenton, put out, crossed his arms. "Well, if you change you're mind, I'm sure he won't mind to come over and help out."

Darkwing sighed resolutely. He turned to Gosalyn, looking down at her sadly. "Well, I guess this means goodbye, sweetheart…"

"Oh, dad! Don't get all mushy in front of everyone!" she groaned. He managed to get a kiss on her forehead before she pulled away. She walked over to Huey, who looked at her with a look of interest. "You like to play baseball?" he asked her.

"You bet!" she grinned.

Darkwing nodded, knowing she would get along with them just fine. He looked back at Scrooge. "Thank you…"

"Anytime, laddie. You're more than welcome to stay for a pot of tea. Mrs. Beakley makes a mean stew too."

Darkwing nodded and followed along with everyone as they headed out of the room, knowing that Launchpad and Gosalyn would be safe with Scrooge and the boys. Now he just hoped he would be able to keep St. Canard just as safe from Negaduck's wrath.

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Author's Note: Finally, this chapter has been completed and posted. I am sorry if there are any typos and such. I tried to get them all out, but this was such a tricky chapter for me, I probably missed some. The most tricky part of this chapter for me was writing Scrooge. I worked so hard to keep him as in character as possible. Along with Fenton. He gave me some problems as well.

Liquidator and Bushroot were supposed to be in this chapter more, but this chapter is already long enough as it is, but I did give you a nice cliffhanger involving them at the start of the chapter. I really hope you all enjoyed this. Let me know what you think! -EricaX


	5. Chapter 5

Broken Ties

Chapter 5

Another small explosion went off deep inside the St. Canard's large historic park as the clouds in the sky darkened. The wintry cold air whirled around the fires that were now spreading quickly throughout the park.

Pedestrians ran in fear and in hopes to get away as a group of thugs dressed heavily in black clothing walked by, kicking over trash cans, setting trees, bushes, and flowers on fire, and anything else they wanted.

However, despite their ominous and brutal appearance, none of them stood close to being as intimidating as Negaduck, who walked in the midst of the group of thugs. He ignored them completely as they hollered and knocked things over and ran amuck throughout the park, his beak set in a deep frown and his eyes narrowed and focused ahead of him.

He walked up to a nearby tree, digging into his pocket and pulling out a small yet sharp knife and pulling out a piece of paper. He held up the paper against the bark and stabbed the knife into the bark so it held up paper to the tree. He grunted as he looked at it, and then turned to watch the thugs around him continue their tirade. He then peered back at the note and scoffed.

"I'm giving that dope too much credit…. He couldn't see a door until he slammed into it…" he sneered, speaking loudly to himself. He dug his hand into his pocket once more, pulling out a small pocket watch and looking at the time. Wordlessly, he stuffed it back into his pocket and mused as he looked back up at the note. "Then again….he probably won't find it to begin with…The doughnut-lovers in blue will probably find it first and throw a frenzy…." He smirked. "Either way….The fun will soon start…"

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The Audubon Tower seemed even more dark and chilly than usual as Darkwing entered it through the blue chairs. He sighed heavily as he stood up from the blue chair, his fedora hat covering most of his eyesight as he paid attention to the concrete floor. Gosalyn and Launchpad were gone. They were out of St. Canard and safely in Duckberg, where he knew they wouldn't get hurt. Off to a place where he had to send them off because he wasn't able to keep them safe anymore.

There had been many times in the past where he had felt miserable and gotten depressed over a case, but never had he ever felt so miserable. Everything had gotten so out of hand so quickly that before the masked mallard knew what was going on, his best friend was being threatened to be killed by his worst enemy and his daughter got hurt while on a case.

Darkwing slowly walked over to where the Ratcatcher was parked, taking a moment and staring at it, almost being able to see Launchpad scoot out from being underneath it and tuning it up.

"Hey, DW!" he could hear Launchpad's loud happy voice say to him. But when Darkwing blinked, the image of the pilot faded and he was reminded that he was just a figment of his imagination. Launchpad wasn't there. He was safe. In Duckberg.

Darkwing groaned, finally turning away from the Ratcatcher. He turned around and slowly looked up, blinking at the sight before him.

Morgana stood several feet away from him, her hands up against her chest and a look of sympathy on her face. "Oh, dark, darling…." She cooed softly at him. Darkwing attempted to smile at her, but it was weak and halfhearted.

"Hey, Morg…" he mumbled, not bothering to put on a brave face for her. He couldn't do it. He pulled off his fedora hat and continued walking past her, not looking up at her, his hat trailing on the floor behind him as he held it limply in his hand.

"Dark…..Are you going to be alright?" she asked him, her voice filled with concern. She had never seen Darkwing so depressed before. It worried her that he was acting the way he was. How was he meant to fight off Negaduck if he was in this condition? She knew she was going to have to do something about his current state, but she wasn't sure what. "Listen, darling, everything is going to be okay. You'll see. Gosalyn and Launchpad are safe now and there's nothing to worry—"

Darkwing grunted loudly, interrupting her as he had his back facing her. "Hah! Yeah. Safe. Safe in Duckberg; a place far enough that they won't be found or get hurt. Away from here because I wasn't able to KEEP them safe! They have to be taken somewhere else!"

Morgana watched him with wide, alarmed eyes. She brought a hand up to her mouth, which was slightly open in surprise. "Oh, Dark, you can't blame yourself for that!"

"How can't I!" he snapped at her, scaring both her and himself. He flinched at the harshness of his own words and sighed. Morgana, taken aback by his outburst, sighed as well, taking a supportive hand and patting him gently on the back. "I'm sorry, Morg….I didn't mean to snap at you like that…."

"It's alright, sweetie. I understand you're going through a tough time…" she replied softly, rubbing soothing circles on his back. Darkwing closed his eyes and took a moment to enjoy the rubbing, but opened his eyes back up a few minutes later.

"I just….wish I was able to protect them without anyone helping…" he muttered.

Morgana straightened her stance slightly, having been slightly bent over to rub at Darkwing's back since there was quite a height difference between the two of them. She gave him a stern look, crossing her arms across her chest. "Darkwing Duck! Haven't you learned ANYTHING from all your years of crime fighting!"

The masked mallard turned to face her with a look of shock. "What! Of course I have!"

"Well, obviously you haven't! You seem to have it stuck in your brain that you HAVE to do everything yourself! No! Rome wasn't built by one person! It takes teamwork to get things done efficiently!"

Darkwing was speechless for several moments, his beak opening and closing several times as he tried to come up with a proper response. After several minutes of trying and knowing he wouldn't be able to come up with a good retaliation, Darkwing finally said, "Well I'm alone now, aren't I!"

"But I could help you, darling! I could—"

"No! NO, Morgana!" he shouted back at her, pulling away from her as she tried to grab his arm. "I don't want anything to happen to you either! After finding out that Launchpad is gone, Negaduck could easily decide to go after you next! Which is….." he paused, panting for breath slightly. He wasn't looking at Morgana anymore, but staring out in front of him. "And….that's why….I…I want you to leave. I want you to go into hiding….Go to your monster realm. Stay with your father…."

Morgana blinked at him, now being the one who didn't know what to say. "Dark….you want me to leave?"

"Not permanently! Just for a little while. Until things are sorted out. Keep track of the news and when you think it's safe you can come back…." The short mallard replied, still not looking her in the eye. "I just want you to be safe too…."

Darkwing flinched a minute later when Morgana wrapped her arms around him, giving him a deep, affectionate hug. He numbly returned the hug, silently wishing that he didn't have to ever let her go, but knowing he had to. They broke apart and finally he looked at her in the eyes.

There was so much about her that he loved about her, like how her eyes shone like little bright stars; her flawless feathered skin; the way she did her hair…. And now he was asking her to go away. Albeit, a short amount of time, but still. To the egotistical mallard that was far too long.

The two of them leaned closer to each other and kissed, both of them enjoying it and wishing it would last longer. When they broke apart, Morgana stepped back. "I'll take you home…."whispered Darkwing, walking up to her and grabbing her hand. "I'll make sure you get home and then I'll see you…hopefully in a few days…..Hopefully this nonsense won't last too long…."

Morgana nodded, following him along as she led him to the Ratcatcher.

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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock that hung on the wall in the hospital waiting room was starting to bother the poor rodent that was sitting in the chair that looked exactly the same as the other thirty chairs sitting in the waiting longue.

Nervous hands had already flipped through every page of every magazine on the desk in the middle of the room, as its only occupant waited anxiously for the clock on the wall to tick faster. How he wished he could make time go faster. He had several more hours to wait after having already waited for several hours prior. He didn't know how much more he could take of this waiting.

Megavolt, currently dressed and disguised as Elmo Sputterspark, looked up at the clock once more for what seemed like the thousandth time. Wearing his simple black short sleeved shirt and blue jeans and overly large orange shoes, Megavolt drummed his fingers anxiously against the wood of the chair's armrest. The rodent wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to handle all of this waiting. He wanted to see how Quackerjack was doing. The last glimpse of the mallard he had gotten had been right before they had shove him off into one of the back rooms. It was all a bit of a surreal blur to him anyhow. He couldn't remember what the nurses had told him when they had rushed the crying Quackerjack away.

Of course, to them, he wasn't Quackerjack. To everyone else he was Michael Bell, because that is who they saw. Megavolt wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't possibly walk through those hospital doors looking like Megavolt and helping a bloody Quackerjack inside.

No. Sadly, Megavolt had had to waste time by rushing to Quackerjack's warehouse and getting themselves some other clothes to change into. Quackerjack had just stayed in the car, wailing the whole time about how much pain he was in. Honestly, it was times when Megavolt seriously wondered if he WAS a little kid and didn't just act like one constantly.

Megavolt didn't even want to think of the bloody mess he would have to eventually clean up in his car. Oh, his poor car. All that hard work he had dedicated to building that beauty of the vehicle. The electrified villain shook his head, trying to focus on the problem at hand. His frazzled mind was so busy trying to grasp everything that had taken place in the last twenty four hours he knew he was feeling a headache coming on.

So, instead of walking in to the hospital as Quackerjack and Megavolt, the two of them had rushed in looking like their previous selves. Their true aliases; Elmo Sputterspark and Michael Bell.

Megavolt looked back up at the clock once more and saw that only three minutes had passed since he had last glanced at it. Looking away from the clock, Megavolt stared in front of him, growling in frustration. He wanted to go and see how his Quacky was doing. He refused to sit around and wait for another several hours. His mismatched gaze turned to the receptionist behind the desk, knowing that she wasn't about to let him through those doors. His eyes then shifted to the doors themselves. They were closed and locked by an electric signal that the receptionist had to open in order for him to get through.

'Electrical, eh? My specialty….' Grinned Megavolt impishly. He looked back up at the clock and taking an ungloved hand, shot a small bolt of electricity at it. The clock snapped quietly and the hands on the clock started whirling around quickly for about half a minute before finally stopping. The hands stopped right so that the clock read 10 o'clock. Smiling deviously, Megavolt stood and walked up to the receptionist's desk with confidence.

He stopped at the counter and waited for her to look up from her work. It wasn't until he cleared his throat a minute later that she finally noticed his presence. She saw who it was and gave him an annoyed look. "Listen, I already told you. Visiting hours start at 10. No sooner." She shook her head, obviously annoyed that he had bothered her.

Megavolt seemed unfazed however, and innocently pointed to the clock behind him. "But….it IS ten o'clock."

The receptionist, a petite little mallard with dark blonde hair and glasses, angrily growled between her teeth and looked back up at him, fully ready to retaliate but before she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes landed on the clock behind him and saw that it did in fact say it was ten in the morning. Flabbergasted, she looked at her computer. "That's not right. M-My computer says it's—"

With a click of his fingers, Megavolt sent a jolt of electricity through the air without her knowledge and hit the computer she was working at. The computer shut down immediately, startling the poor woman.

"Oh! What happened! I—I must have pulled the cord down below…." She muttered to herself, looking underneath her desk. She looked back at Megavolt. "Huh, time must really fly…..If that clock says 10. Alright, I'm sorry. It was my mistake." Distracted, she pushed the button that opened the doors to the left of them, much to Megavolt's chagrin.

"Eh, it's okay. I'm sure the computer is fine" shrugged Megavolt, trying to act nonchalant. "Could you just tell me what room Quacker-I mean….umm…Michael….Bell is in?"

The small mallard looked up at him and gave him a look of guilt. "I'm sorry, but since the computer is turned off, I would have to turn it back on, log back in and everything, which could take a while. He should just be down the hall there. If anything, just ask one of the nurses. They'll help you out…."

Megavolt bit his tongue to keep from growling from more frustration and restrained himself from giving her a nasty electrical shock. Instead he just turned and walked through the doors, which were now open.

The main problem was this: he couldn't ask anyone, because technically he wasn't yet allowed to be back there. He lied and tricked her onto thinking it was visiting hours. The rodent walked in, bluntly aware that even though he was normal day clothes and looked like a normal civilian, he was still up to no good and acting villainous.

'There just is no hope for me,' Megavolt sniggered to himself. He slowly walked down the white tiled hallway, sickened by the fact that everything was white. He peered into each room he walked past, his ears listening for any signs of anyone coming and seeing him. He scanned one of the rooms to his right and blanched in disgust. "D'oh… This place is terrible. All those enslaved machines and light bulbs. This place is one of the biggest enslavers I've ever seen!" he spoke quietly to himself. "Makes me sick to my stomach…."

At his words he turned around, rubbing his stomach unconsciously, truly getting sickened out by all the slavery. He needed to find Quackerjack and quickly, otherwise he'd tear this place apart as he tried to save all his fellow luminaries.

He walked down the hallway even further and finally peered into the right room. Quackerjack was propped up on pillows, his leg suspended in the air with a cast around it and he looked far from happy.

"Quacky!" whispered Megavolt merrily.

At the sound of his nickname, the jester looked over at the doorway and beamed with delight when he saw that it was his Megsy. Instead of his usual outfit, Quackerjack was wearing a white hospital gown. When Megavolt had left him, he had been wearing a tie dye shirt and purple pants. "Megs!" He didn't bother being quiet.

"Shhhhh!" shushed Megavolt, a finger at his lips. He walked in quietly, his eyes darting back at the doorway behind him for a brief second before his attention went entirely to Quackerjack. "I'm not supposed to be here. Visiting hours hasn't started yet."

Quackerjack reached his arms out for Megavolt; his fingers twitching as he silently beckoned him to come closer. Megavolt walked up closer until he was up against the bed and Quackerjack pulled him into a hug the best he could since he couldn't move all that much. His head pressed up against Megavolt's chest, he looked up at the rodent in question. "Then how did you get in?"

Megavolt mindlessly ran a hand through Quackerjack's long unruly red bangs as he said in reply, "I zapped the clock on the wall so that it would read the time I wanted; 10 o clock. Then I turned off her computer so that she couldn't check to see if the time was right. She let me through."

Quackerjack pulled away from him, though still held onto his arms. "Ooh, my conniving little Megsy!" cackled the jester, slapping a hand on the other's arm.

Rubbing at his nose and looking over at the TV on the other side of the room, Megavolt asked, "So, how have you been?" he looked at the toymaker and was startled at the reaction he received.

"Ooooooohhh…! It's been utter hell in here!"

"How so? Is your leg bothering you?"

"NOOOO! It's not even that! I mean….." he patted the cast around his leg gently. "It does throb and KILL like no other….But….It's….." he gulped, looking at Megavolt with wide, slightly deranged eyes. "The freaky woman in the god awful-looking nurses outfit with the ugly teddy bears on it said they just ran out of Jell-O and I have to eat pudding instead!" the jester then promptly started whimpering and fussing. If he had still been wearing his jester hat he would be pulling at the ends of it in frustration at that moment.

Megavolt raised an eyebrow, apparently unfazed by his friend's antics. "But I thought you liked pudding."

"I do! But this pudding isn't even chocolate or banana! It's vanilla. YUCK!" blanched the mallard.

Megavolt sighed. "Other than the food, are you okay?"

Quackerjack shrugged. "I'll be honest….I'm in a lot of pain, Megs…" Megavolt frowned, not liking the answer. "Although, I'm sure I would feel MUCH better if you played as a Nurse for me!" he gave the rodent a knowing look and a large toothy grin.

Megavolt rolled his eyes. "Nice try…." He sniffed, feeling some of the fabric of the bed sheets. "Besides, I hate these beds. Too starchy…."

Quackerjack crossed his arms and pouted. "Fuddy-duddy…"

Megavolt turned his attention to Quackerjack's leg. "How bad is it?"

Quackerjack shifted positions on the bed before answering. "Well, not like I was listening or anything…to those very booooorrring people….but I'm pretty sure they said it's nothing too major. It was several inches below my kneecap, so I should be able to walk by tomorrow."

Megavolt nodded, finding a black permanent marker on the desk beside him and started writing on his cast. Quackerjack watched him without commenting, instead just watched. After a length of silence, he finally said, "So….." he just wanted there to be a conversation. He hated silence and he currently had none of his toys to fill it up with.

Megavolt stood up, having been bent over slightly as he wrote on the cast, and placed the cap of the marker back on with a soft snap. "So….I just wrote my name on your cast."

"Lemme see! Lemme see! Lemme see!" cried the jester just like a little kid. He pushed his upper body up so that he could try to read the black words that had been written on his cast.

He blinked at what Megavolt had written on there.

'I like toast. – Megavolt.'

Quackerjack snapped his head to look over at Megavolt, his red bangs getting in his way. "Why'd you write that!"

Megavolt blinked at him, shrugging. "Well, you're supposed to write down something you like and then write your name on those things, aren't you?"

It took a moment for his words to sink in and when they did, Quackerjack burst into laughter. Megavolt just stood there next to the bed, not understanding what was so hilarious. After several minutes of laughing, Quackerjack calmed down enough so he could explain. "No, you're not supposed to write something you like, but words of encouragement and THEN sign your name. But it doesn't matter Megsy, I like what you wrote SO much better!"

"Well, good, cause that's permanent and I'm not writing on there again…." He set the marker back down where he found it. "So they say you'll be able to walk around again soon?"

"Mhm. Possibly with crutches, which are absolutely NO FUN! How am I supposed to jump, and run, and do back flips, and front flips, and cartwheels, and back springs, and ride my pogo stick, and-"

"I get the picture!" hissed Megavolt.

"Very devastating times, Megsy. Very devastating…." sniveled the jester, wiping away a fake tear.

Megavolt scratched the back of his neck, the recent events coming to mind. "Yeah, very devastating…..Look, Quacky….Negaduck tried to kill us last night…."

Quackerjack nodded. "I know…."

"This is….bad, isn't it? I mean, really bad? He wants us dead and Negaduck isn't someone who gives up easily. He's going to try again….." Quackerjack just nodded, having nothing else to say. He didn't know what to say. What Megavolt was saying was true and unless they thought of something quick, they were likely to die in their sleep since Negaduck seemed so intent on killing them.

"Well, what do you suppose we do, Megsy? Head for the mountains and start our own life? Our own colony?" swallowed Quackerjack. He giggled at the very idea.

"Not likely…" spat Megavolt. He looked away, not meeting Quackerjack's gaze. "Actually…I have a bit of a plan. An idea…."

Quackerjack titled his head to one side, curious.

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It was the first time that it wasn't snowing for days, but the dark gray clouds still hung over the afternoon sky, making it appear later and darker than it actually was. Hardly anyone was outside on the streets for everyone wished to stay out of the cold and stay inside where the warmth was.

The sound of the Ratcatcher's engine could be heard several blocks down the road and it didn't take long for it to reach Morgana's house. Darkwing parked the Ratcatcher on the other side of the street, and helped Morgana outside of the passenger's seat. The seat that Launchpad usually occupied, thought Darkwing with a pang of guilt. Despite Morgana's comforting words earlier, the masked mallard still felt to blame for everything that had taken place and still wished that no one else would help him as a matter for them not getting hurt. He was tired of seeing people either getting hurt or having to be sent away on account of him. And now even the love of his life had to go into hiding for a few days. Given; she wasn't technically leaving, but the fact that the witch was being extra careful didn't make things any better.

Morgana took Darkwing's offered hand and stepped out of the Ratcatcher, taking a moment and giving him a kiss on the cheek before truly standing straight. The hero wasn't able to hide the blush her kiss caused.

He walked with her across the street, focusing on her as they walked, but a movement out of the corner of his eye made him look in front of them. Morgana looked too, for she had been looking back down at Darkwing.

The two of them froze in their place halfway across the street, neither realizing nor caring that it was fortunate for them no one was on the streets driving.

There, standing just before the gate that led to Morgana's front door, stood Negaduck. The sinuous duck smirked at them, his hands crossed over his chest and looking rather smug.

"Negaduck…" breathed Darkwing, his hand immediately seeking Morgana's as he held onto it tightly.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite masked mallard. How are you these days?" probed Negaduck conversationally.

Darkwing didn't answer, just glared at the other mallard, growling slightly. "Go on inside, Morgana. Quickly. Go and check on everything. And stay inside. I'll be alright…"

"But Dark—" Morgana tried protesting but she caught herself off, seeing Darkwing's severe stance. She quickly walked around Darkwing and made sure to leave distance between herself and Negaduck, cautiously watching them both and headed inside her house through the back way where he restaurant was. But neither Darkwing nor Negaduck seemed to take any notice of her. Instead they were both scowling at one another.

"So, where's the dimwitted pilot? I haven't seen him around these days…Not that I miss him or anything…. Is the big oaf too cowardly to come outdoors anymore? You do realize that no matter where he is, I WILL find him, right?" gloated Negaduck.

"No you won't. He's somewhere you'll never find…" remarked Darkwing through gritted teeth.

Negaduck chuckled deeply in his low voice. "I doubt that. But what about you, Negs? What are YOU doing here? Kicking babies again?"

"Nahh, I did that earlier this morning" shrugged Negaduck. He glanced at his shoulder and flicked off a piece of lint before turning back to Darkwing. "No….actually…I'm just here to have a little bit of fun…..I had hoped I would run into you….because you see, you're the one that makes this all the more fun. I have to something to kill the time before its time to kill your pilot friend, now don't I?"

"What are you talking about? What fun?" demanded Darkwing.

Negaduck just shook his head. "You truly are dense, Darkwing…..You know these days my only pleasure is seeing you squirm…."

Darkwing didn't have enough time to figure out the meaning of Negaduck's words before there was a loud explosion that came from inside Morgana's house. Alarmed and frozen in shock, Darkwing looked behind Negaduck at the house. At first, nothing appeared to be wrong, but then a burst of flames shot through every window of the house and make bangs and explosions could be heard. Darkwing looked back down at Negaduck, who seemed unaffected by the explosion as he yawned out of boredom.

Then it clicked. "Morgana….!" He whispered to himself harshly. He ran towards the house, pushing Negaduck out of his way, who only turned back and watched Darkwing run, smirking, obviously thrilled by Darkwing's reaction.

Darkwing attempted to get in through the front door but saw nothing but flames, so he jumped off the small porch and headed around the house the same way Morgana had gone several minutes prior.

Once he was behind the house he stopped running and saw a handful of people standing several yards away from the burning house; watching it burn. Amongst the group Darkwing could see Morgana and her Auntie , the dead waiter and several costumers. Panting, Darkwing immediately ran to Morgana, who was didn't even acknowledge his presence even when he gently slammed into her, giving her a side hug and holding her close. He looked up at her, giving her consoling words that seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Morg! Morgana! Sweetie! Everything is going to be alright! I promise!" he called to her, feeling a pang of loss for he knew how important this had been to her.

Morgana's sorrowful, melancholy gaze never left her burning house and restaurant, which had meant everything to her. Darkwing continued to say kind words to her, but nothing worked as everyone else just continued to stand there and watch.

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It had been several hours since the burning of Morgana's restaurant. The entire city had quickly learned on the news and most everyone was devastated of the loss. Of course, the minute the news had heard wind of it; it had been all over the news.

Liquidator, who had happened to be slinking past the electronics store, heard the news reporter speaking about the fire and couldn't help but listen. Remaining in his puddle form, Liquidator was able to listen, dodging the occasional shopper from stepping on him. Boy, did he hate that.

He listened to the news, which was saying how Negaduck had been spotted around the area just before the explosion took place. This made Liquidator nervous. He had also heard of the explosion at Megavolt's hideout. It seemed that Negaduck was not only out to get Darkwing and his sidekick, but also the members of the Fearsome Four.

His thoughts immediately shifted to Bushroot and how he was alone at the Greenhouse all himself. Negaduck had warned him the day before. Liquidator didn't waste another moment. He morphed back into his dog form only to quickly make his way to the nearest manhole and dive into it, intent on getting to his Reggie's Greenhouse as soon as possible.

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The air was cold and bitingly chilly outside but inside the Greenhouse it was warm and toasty and the air was thick with humidity. Just as the mutant plant duck living inside of it enjoyed it. He was busy working with some of his experiments when he heard a knock on the door. Bushroot immediately tensed, knowing it wasn't Liquidator, for he never used the door. So he knew it had to be some uninvited guest.

The mutant tried not to panic and tried to reassure of himself that it wasn't Negaduck or Darkwing, instead perhaps just Megavolt or Quackerjack who wished to talk or perhaps apologize again. It was unlikely, but it made him feel better thinking about it.

Spike had started growling at the door the minute someone knocked on it. "Quiet, Spike" he told his loyal pet. Forgetting about his work, he slowly walked closer and closer to the front of the Greenhouse, his anxiety getting worse and worse with every step he took.

Finally he was able to see the door and it was the first time he wished his front door was glass and see through like every other part of his greenhouse, that way he would know whether or not to answer it or to hide.

Grasping the doorknob with his leafy hand, Bushroot finally flung the door open, prepared for the worst. He opened his eyes, having unconsciously closed them, and saw that no one was at the door. All that greeted him was the cold air outside and the empty, grassy landscape around his greenhouse. Perplexed and unsure of what was going on, he poked his head out slightly, looking both ways and still seeing nothing. Just as he was beginning to believe that it was all just his imagination, someone grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled hard, causing the scientist to be caught off guard.

With a cry, Bushroot went summersaulting through the air and landed on his back, groaned when he met the cold hard ground. Panting and trying to pull himself up into a sitting position, Bushroot had barely enough time to sort out the confusion in his mind before flinching at the sight of a mallard's feet in front of him. Slowly looking up, he was met with a sneer as Negaduck looked down at the mutant.

Bushroot gasped in alarm, immediately trying to push himself back and away from Negaduck, but the criminal mastermind was too quick for him and grabbed one of the mutant's roots, pulling hard and making Bushroot slide on the ground towards him.

"Why, hello Bushbrain. Lovely evening isn't it?" scorned Negaduck, leering down at the stunned mutant. Bushroot just groaned, his back hurting from the burn of being dragged on the ground. "What's the matter? Isn't you special little sewer drainage boyfriend here to protect you?" Without wasting another moment, Negaduck grabbed a fistful of Bushroot's petal hair and pulled him upwards. Bushroot cried out in pain, immediately reaching up and trying to pull Negaduck's hands away.

"Stop it! Leave me alone!" shouted Bushroot through his pain.

"Fat chance, fertilizer breath!" leered Negaduck, pulling his petals even harder. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time. You and those other damned member of the Fearsome Four! Pathetic idiots! Such a waste of powers!" He took his grip on Bushroot's petals and through him to the side like a rag doll, making Bushroot tumble over sideways several times. By the time Bushroot's world had stopped spinning, Negaduck was already standing behind him and gave him a harsh kick in the back, causing the mutant to moan in pain as he did a face fault into the cold dead grass.

Growling at his mistreatment, Bushroot raised both of his leafy hands from where he was laying on the ground and seconds later long thick roots sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves around Negaduck's arms and feet.

Negaduck yelled out in anger. "Curse you and your wretched plants!" he pulled out a long sharp knife and started cutting at the vines, which retreated the moment they were cut; in pain from the cuts they received. But the vines had given Bushroot plenty of time to stand up and recover, ready for the next blow.

Just before Negaduck managed to cut all four of the vines around him, Bushroot summoned more vines which tangled themselves around Negaduck's arms and legs.

Shouting out his resentment and wrath towards the plants that were currently attacking him, Negaduck pulled out his chainsaw, which roared to life an instant later. The vines instantaneously flinched and scurried away; back into the ground where they came from.

Bushroot squeaked in alarm and fright at the sight of his little vine army leaving and took several steps back when he saw Negaduck start to advance on him. Whimpering slightly, the green mallard hadn't the faintest clue to do next.

With his chainsaw still roaring with life, Negaduck grinned devilishly at his prey. "You know, I never liked flowers that much. Disgusting little things, in my opinion"

"Negaduck….please….I didn't do anything—"

"Just turned your back on me. Quit the Fearsome Five. And nobody…walks out and quits the Fearsome Five…."clarified Negaduck.

"T-That was months ago!" wailed Bushroot, still walking backwards as Negaduck continued to advance on him.

"Think I care?" growled the mallard in yellow.

"All those times I worked for you! WE worked for you!"

"You all betrayed me one or another. And betrayers deserve to die…." Bushroot's eyes widened in fear at his words. "And besides, you'll all useless morons to begin with…."

It was then that Negaduck stopped and turned his chainsaw off with a click. Bushroot stiffened at this, not understanding what the mallard had up his sleeve.

"You know, I think I would rather have the pleasure of doing you in with my own bare hands. Rip you apart and throw the pieces away…." Hissed Negaduck as he set the chainsaw down.

He lunged for Bushroot who dodged him and began running towards his Greenhouse but Negaduck was too quick and agile for him and was able to grab onto Bushroot's wrist and painfully pulled him his way. Bushroot gasped and struggled as Negaduck started choking him.

"You…know I can't be choked to death like a normal duck, right boss?" snarled Bushroot in anger as he grabbed Negaduck's arm that was strangling him and pulled it over his head with all his might, twisting it around as he escaped the other's hold. Negaduck shouted out in pain as Bushroot let go, fully intent on running in the other direction. Negaduck took a moment to catch himself, not used to seeing the mutant plant duck defend himself the way he was now. But not like that was about to stop him.

Negaduck chased after Bushroot once more and just as Bushroot was about to reach his Greenhouse, Negaduck caught him by the shoulder and yanked him backwards. Bushroot fell to the ground with a loud cry of pain.

Getting out the knife he had used earlier, Negaduck aimed it for Bushroot's head as he stood above him, yet he dropped the knife as he howled in pain when Spike bit him hard from behind.

"You damn mongrel!" yelled Negaduck, giving Spike a hard kick on the side which made the Venus flytrap dog crash into the greenhouse doorway and passing out.

"Spike!" yelped Bushroot with worry over his pet. Tears threatened to fall as they welled up in Bushroot's blue eyes. He couldn't take much more of this abuse. He was not a physical person and this fight was killing him. His thin body was aching with pain, but he knew he couldn't let his guard down for one second around Negaduck.

He tried once more to flee, only to get pushed back down by Negaduck. Exhaustion kept Bushroot from fighting anymore. He no longer had the strength to try to get away. He just laid there on the ground, panting, knowing that Negaduck was nowhere near giving up.

Pitifully, he looked up at Negaduck's daunting figure standing above him before his Greenhouse. He watched as the villain pulled out a small lighter and flicked it on, both of them watching the small fire it emitted. Then, Negaduck pulled out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and opened it.

"This…." Began Negaduck. "Is what I think of you and your damn plants." He threw the bottle inside the doorway of the Greenhouse, making sure the liquid spilled everywhere. Turning the lighter back on, Negaduck knelt down and placed against where some of the liquid was. Instantly the liquid caught fire and the fire quickly grew and grew, feeding its way deeper inside the Greenhouse until the plants all started to burn.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Bushroot, his mind being overrun with the cries of his children; his precious plants.

Negaduck cackled with pure venom, then leaned down closer to Bushroot. "And now….it's your turn…." He brought the lighter closer and closer to Bushroot's plant-like skin as Bushroot winced, waiting for what was to come.

Silence.

Bushroot opened his eyes to see what the delay was and saw that Negaduck was no longer looking at him, but was looking to his left, a look of confusion and suspicion of his face. It was then that Bushroot heard it too. It sounded like an ocean. Like an ocean's waves hitting the beach shores.

"You need to learn not to underestimate your clients, Negaduck!" came the loud and booming salesman's voice of Liquidator. Both of them saw a liquid wall of water coming right their way. It was massive; even greater than a dam collapsing.

Stunned and not sure what to think, Negaduck tried pulling away, but the water wall was coming too fast for him. Just as the water wall was inches before hitting them both, a large watery arm grabbed Bushroot from beneath Negaduck and snatched him to safety.

Negaduck screamed as the water wall hit him with full force, causing the mallard to be washed away. The water wall rammed itself against the greenhouse and some of the water rushed into inside, extinguishing the fire that was inside. Negaduck could be seen gasping for air at the top of the water as he was flushed a good mile away.

Once the water wall was gone the water behind it became less and less and trickled back to the rivers and streams where it had all come from. Liquidator stood there, holding Bushroot tightly, who was still in shock from everything that had just happened in the last thirty seconds.

Panting and on the verge of hyperventilating, Bushroot just wrapped his arms around Liquidator's neck and rested his head on the crick of his neck.

"Are you alright, Reggie?" asked Liquidator softly into Bushroot's ear.

"I am now…..Thank you…"

"That was a close call…"

"You're telling me…" chuckled Bushroot slightly.

"He was going to kill you…." Liquidator held Bushroot closer to him as the mutant remained silent. "Negaduck is off his rocker this time. He wants to kill us all. He tried killing Megavolt and Quackerjack in that fire the other night. Now this…" he could feel Bushroot nod into his shoulder. "Don't waste time, act now and you'll have full guarantee to be prepared for whatever he throws at us next!"

"You're right, Likky….We HAVE got to do something….And…I might have an idea…"

"Oh? Inquiring minds would like to know" he informed the recovering mutant.

"Later….I want to check on my plants first…." Answered Bushroot. Without further delay, Liquidator took him over to Spike and the two of them checked on how the flytrap dog was doing; along with the rest of the Greenhouse.

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A good mile or so away from Bushroot's Greenhouse, the water wall Liquidator had created finally subsided and Negaduck was left coughing and sputtering as he managed to pull himself up off the ground. Gasping and catching his breath, Negaduck wiped the extra water from his face, reaching up for his fedora hat. But it wasn't there. He looked about himself and spotted it several feet away. Standing and brushing himself off, now soaking wet, Negaduck grumbled under his breath.

"Goddamn water mutant…" he cursed under his breath. Just as he was about to continue spitting out more profanities, a small alarm went off in one of the pockets of his jacket. Taken by surprise, Negaduck flinched ever so slightly. He quickly pulled out the small pocket watch and looked at the time. He began chuckling and it kept getting louder and louder until he finally said, "It's been three days….. Time's up. Darkwing….."

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Author's Note: Well, I was finally able to finish off another chapter. Woo! Lots of stuff going on in this one! Poor Bushroot. I hated to have him get beaten up like that….but….that's Negaduck for you….. Hope you enjoyed it! -EricaX


	6. Chapter 6

Broken Ties

Chapter 6

Author's Note: Alright, so I am very aware that it has been nearly a year since I have updated this story. I feel terrible, but this past year was just very difficult and stressful for me personally. I was able to get some other fics finished since I've updated this one, but any of you who have written a multi-chapter story, should know what it's like. You have to be in the right mood and mind set to work on this sort of thing. I made sure not to disappoint though, by making sure this was a large juicy chapter filled with all sorts of stuff. So, I won't bother you anymore so that you may go enjoy this chapter. Please review! I wanna know what you all think! - EricaX

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"I…..just can't believe this…."whispered Morgana as she stepped among the burnt remains of her home and restaurant. She took another careful step, making sure the wood pieces she was standing on where secure before putting the rest of her weight on it.

Darkwing Duck, with his head bowed low and his face hidden behind his large purple fedora hat, just walked beside her quietly, not sure whether it was safe or appropriate to say anything. He knew Morgana's temper was still close to flaring, especially after having seen her initial reaction after the house had completely burnt to the ground. He had watched in pure horror as his long time love and girlfriend kicked down several standing wooden planks that once held the house up and had it tumble to pieces in the ashes. Then he watched with even more horror as she wielded her magic and destroyed the same wooden planks she has just kicked over.

Now however, Morgana seemed to be more herself. Her earlier fury seemed to have sizzled after her Auntie and father had a talk with her. Moloculo had assured her that everything would be alright for his precious daughter and that he would see to it immediately that the large two story house and restaurant were restored back their original gloomy splendor and glory.

But to Morgana it wasn't the same; that wasn't the point. The point was that she had had to stand there and watch as her home and dream was destroyed. Nothing could take that away from a person. There was no erasing that. Darkwing knew this very well. He knew how important the restaurant had been to the witch. How could he not? She was the love of his life after all.

Morgana took a couple more steps before stopping entirely, crossing her arms and looking at the devastation around her. Her beak was tightly shaped into a frown as she turned to look down at her boyfriend. "Just can't believe it…."

Darkwing, knowing he would have to talk to her sooner or later, brought his head up to look at her before saying, "I know, Morg. I can't believe it either. But, I promise you….Negaduck will pay for what he has done. And I don't just mean about what he did here. I mean, everything. All the years of trouble he's caused. The stress he's caused Launchpad when he made that death threat; having chased him and Gosalyn off to Duckberg. He is going to pay, Morgana. I will make sure of it!"

"And how exactly do you plan to do that, Dark?" snapped Morgana. Darkwing flinched at the tone she was using, having to remind himself that it was not him that she was mad at, but at the situation. Or at least, he hoped so. "Negaduck has already caught you off guard several times now. You have no idea when he is going to strike. You don't even have a plan, do you, Dark?

"What do you mean by that? Aren't you the one who just a little while ago was telling me that everything would be alright and that I would be able to fix all this? You didn't seem to mind that I didn't have a plan earlier!" retaliated the vigilante, shocked by his own tone which was angrier than he had intended. "Or was that just BEFORE something terrible happened to you?"

Darkwing really had no idea why he was saying these things. He knew he was stepping out of line and just flat out hurting Morgana even more than she already was by saying these things, but he found that he simply didn't care. So, he kept going. "Before, you were safe. Nothing bad had happened to you personally. Then, you had all the faith in the world in me. Now, what? You don't think I can stop Negaduck?"

Morgana's expression softened slightly, changing from angry and upset to confused, surprised, and slightly hurt. "Darling-That's not what I meant—"

"Then what DID you mean, Morg? Suddenly you're the victim and I'm the bad guy for not having a plan. Welcome to my everyday world Morgana." The short mallard looked up at the remains of Morgana's home and restaurant and gestured towards the ash covered remains. "You lost your home and restaurant. Negaduck, for the first time, did something to you. Hurt you. This is what I deal with all the time! And that makes you think you have the right to start yelling in on me!"

Silence overcame them; neither knowing what to say. The only thing they could hear were the distant crickets in the background and murmurs of conversation coming from Morgana's family who were mingling around the destruction; talking to one another.

Things never used to be this complicated. Darkwing knew that very well. He remembered a time when things were a lot simpler. Hard and dangerous yet still simple. There was a time when he would just fight the bad guy from taking over the world, or stop the city from being flooded, or stop the giant tree from attacking the park, or stop little toy soldiers from robbing toy stores, or power surges causing mayhem.

Now….

Now things were harder. Now there was more to lose. The villains had become more evil; nastier. No, not villains: villain. Negaduck had become more ruthless than ever. It had been months since the Fearsome Four had done any actual crimes. He's had dealings with them, sure, but for other reasons besides crimes.

Bushroot's plants had gotten out of control. But the villain had ended up reforming. It had been Negaduck who eventually became the bigger threat. And of course, the giant tree, in which Darkwing still felt major pain from being hit by. That hadn't been the mutant's fault though; or so, the mallard didn't think it was.

Megavolt lost his memory in an accident and reverted back to his former self, Elmo Sputterspark. Well, that certainly couldn't be blamed by him. Again, Negaduck had become the larger threat in the end. And sadly he lost his high school friend again in the process.

Quackerjack had gone nuttier than usual and tried to kill a guy. Okay, it was his fault. But it was Quackerjack; he never was fully there. Megavolt and him ended up sorting the whole thing out and had been able to walk away from it. However, Darkwing wondered if R.J. Meddle would ever be able to sleep a full night through ever again.

Then, the most recent incident involving the Fearsome Four had been the Paddywhack incident. Paddywhack had been the villain behind it all and Megavolt had been his unfortunate puppet and Quackerjack his victim.

Darkwing sighed as he thought all this out. It seemed that the Fearsome Four were no longer doing any major crimes or trying to take over St. Canard. Instead, they were just trying to get by; survive. Negaduck usually ended up being the main villain; the biggest threat. And now it seemed that not even the Fearsome Four were safe from his wrath. And in the end, Negaduck was the one who needed to be stopped above all else.

"What are you thinking about, Dark, darling? Are you mad at me? I'm sorry for snapping at you. I really shouldn't have. I was just so upset with the restaurant and everything-"Morgana's voice was now sympathetic. She cut herself off, not knowing what to say. All of her anger was now gone and replacing it was guilt. Darkwing looked up at her, breaking away from his thoughts.

He blinked at her for a moment before saying hoarsely, "It's alright, love. I know you didn't mean it." His voice sounded rough and dry. He sighed. "This has just been a very trying time for all of us…." He closed the gap between them and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her thin waist. He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment of getting to be with the woman he loved dearly.

"Oh, my dark vigilante….my terror of the night…."cooed Morgana as she hugged in back in return. After the long tender moment between the two of them, Darkwing finally pulled away and the two gave each other lopsided grins as they looked at one another. Both seemed slightly ill at ease after their brief argument for neither knew what to do next.

Morgana was the first one to speak, though, for she commented, "You know, you have come a long way, Dark. As a crime fighter, I mean…." She turned away from him and started taking some cautious steps through the smoldering remains. Darkwing, seeing that the danger zone was over and the fear of being on Morgana's bad side was no longer an issue, found it safe to furrow his eyebrows and tilt his head to one side.

"What do you mean?"

Morgana shrugged. "I just mean….there was a time where all you could think about was your ego and how whatever plan you came up with would make you look on television the night after."

Darkwing gawked at her. "I was never like that!"

"Oh, yes, you were."

"Was not!"

"Was too…."

The two of them continued to bicker playfully at one another for several more minutes before they were finally told to be quiet by Morgana's auntie and to start helping them clean up the mess. It seemed that even though everything in Darkwing's world seemed to be unraveling, some things would simply never change.

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Liquidator, who was usually one who had great sympathy when it came to the green mutant's plants, found it odd, that for once, he honestly couldn't care less about the plants. For the last half hour, the liquid canine had tried to do everything in his power to get Bushroot to stop fussing over his plants. He fully understood that every living plant inside and out of the Greenhouse meant a great deal to his plant friend, but that didn't give him the right to flat out ignore him.

"Reggie…..would you just calm down…..Most of your plants are going to be fine anyways. The fire was very short lived…."pointed out Liquidator. But his words fell on deaf ears. After several more minutes of listening to Bushroot mumble to his plants and check on how they were doing, the canine spoke again, using his jargon voice. "Are you feeling left out? Do you feel as though nothing you say reaches your loved ones?" He morphed his body to the shape of a large hand, moving himself over towards where Bushroot was standing next to some small sapling trees, and grabbed him firmly but gently around the middle.

"Likky!" shouted Bushroot in alarm. He had been focusing his attention on the apple tree that had lost most of its branches in the fire when he was rudely interrupted. "What are you doing?"

"While I find it all very amusing and inspirational to watch you take care of all your plants so lovingly, I would like to remind you that we are in the middle of an emergency. When you told me you would tell me the 'plan' of yours after you "checked on your plants" I was not under the impression that would take a hundred years!"

Bushroot, who had been struggling to get out of Liquidator's grip, stopped and blinked at his words. His blue eyes then narrowed and a sneaky smirk graced his lips. He cleared his throat and in the best, booming voice he could manage, he responded: "Is there something wrong? Are you not getting the satisfaction you thought you would when you sealed the deal? That's alright, talk it out with Bushroot! If you put him down in the next thirty seconds, you won't regret it!"

Liquidator's fluid form seemed to freeze as Bushroot's words sunk in and it occurred to him just what had taken place. He gently and wordlessly placed Bushroot back down on the cement of the many walkways through Bushroot's Greenhouse. With a satisfied smirk, Bushroot crossed his arms and watched as Liquidator morphed back into his dog form, noting that his ears were pinned down as though the canine knew he was in trouble.

"Was that you trying to imitate me?" the ex-salesman couldn't help but blurt out.

All Bushroot could do was shrug and instead of straight out answering, said, "Now you know how ridiculous you sound all the time."

Frowning, Liquidator fought back with a retort. "I'm pretty positive this sales-dog is better at his jargons than that!"

Bushroot scoffed but made no further comment on the canine's constant jargons. Instead, he sighed, letting his vine like arms fall to his sides. "Sorry, I did get a bit carried away. But I would just like to say, for the record, that no one….NO ONE…..will ever truly understand the pain I went through as this greenhouse…..filled with my precious….precious children….burned" lamented Bushroot in his baritone voice.

"I'll grant you that much" conceded Liquidator quietly. "But we need to move on. YOU need to move on. Most of your plants are fine. You'll have all the time in the world to take care of them once everything is settled."

"Settled?" queried a now baffled-looking plant mutant.

"Negaduck is still on the loose, Reggie!" growled a now exasperated villain.

"Oh, right…."mumbled Bushroot with a bit of shame in his voice. He placed a hand up to his beak and furrowed his brow, thinking this over. "I never did tell you my plan…."

Liquidator nodded. "Now, we're getting somewhere! It's never a smart idea to leave your investors waiting! This is a done deal if you act quickly and share your thoughts!" he slid an arm around Bushroot's thin shoulders, holding him close. Bushroot didn't seem to notice though, as he was still in deep thought.

"I don't know if you'll like the idea very much…."sighed the ex-scientist.

"And why not?"

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CRASH!

"No! No! No! No! No! No! NO!" screeched a very worked up Quackerjack. The cast on his leg was the only thing that was keeping the jester from standing up and strangling the electrified rodent beside him for thinking such a dreadful thing. However, this didn't stop him from grabbing whatever he could find and using it to throw at said rodent.

"Quackerjack!" shouted Megavolt, only to duck a second later to avoid getting hit by the empty bowl Quackerjack had found on a tray beside his bed.

CRASH!

The porcelain bowl crashed with the wall behind Megavolt and shattered into several pieces. Megavolt stood back up, deeming it safe and looked behind him where the bowl had crashed. "Odd, I always thought they used plastic bowls…." He mumbled. He then turned his attention back on the distraught toymaker. "Quackerjack, if you don't stop this fussing, you're gonna get me kicked out of here! I'm not even supposed to be here yet!"

"Not until you tell me that your idea is beyond stupid and is the lamest, most non-fun idea you've ever come up with!" hollered Quackerjack, who had stopped throwing things at Megavolt long enough to glare at him and let them rodent take a moment to recover from the assaults.

"It's our only option, Quacky!" fought back Megavolt. The two of them scowled at one another for another moment before Megavolt decided to speak again. "I don't even know why you're so upset. This is not the first time we've had to team up with that crime fighting pansy anyway!" he paused. "Is it?"

Quackerjack crossed his arms and glowered at Megavolt as he pushed himself back onto the two large pillows he was currently propped up on. It was true, this was not the first them they had considered or even had to team up with Darkwing Duck. He would love to just brush it off as Megavolt's bad memory acting up again, but he knew Megavolt wouldn't relent easily. He knew his memory was bad and would probably accuse Quackerjack of lying.

"Yeeeessss" drawled Quackerjack in a childish voice. "We have teamed with him before, but I don't waannnaaaa!" Promptly, the duck started fussing and wailing his arms and good leg up and down, causing his bed to shift and jolt.

Megavolt sighed. "Why not?" It was then that it clicked. It dawned on the rodent why the jester was being so frustrating and childish. Or at least, he was pretty sure that was the reason. In the back of his frazzled mind, he just barely remembered the fact that Quackerjack despised Darkwing three times more now. It was all because he used to know Darkwing when they were in high school. "It's because Darkwing and I used to be friends, isn't it? That's why you don't want to work with him?"

Quackerjack stopped in mid motion from his thrashing and stared at the rodent before him. He honestly didn't think Megavolt would remember. It had been several months since the incident where Megavolt had lost his current memory and reverted back to his high school persona. This was the first time -Megavolt actually verbally mentioned the once-upon-a-time friendship Darkwing and he used to have. Besides remembering and being insistent to keep any and all memorabilia from his past, Quackerjack didn't think Megavolt had remembered the event at all.

The jester's large beak formed into a large pout as he avoided eye contact with his favorite playmate. "Maybe…." He muttered quietly and unwillingly.

Megavolt's annoyance and anger towards the duck melted after that one little word. "Awww, Quacky. That's no reason to be upset." He moved closer and rested his elbows on the bed next to Quackerjack. "You know you'll always be my favorite partner in crime."

Quackerjack could feel the sides of his large beak twitch up into a smile, unable to feel appreciated after a compliment like that. He fiddled with the bed sheets with his fingers, looking like a shy toddler who was unsure of what to say after receiving a present and knowing he had to say some form of thanks. "That's sweet of ya, Megs, but I still don't want to work with that purple fuddy duddy."

Megavolt grimaced, easing back up into a standing position. "Well, let's at least figure out what Bushy and Likky think of my idea."

Quackerjack's crazed eyes flashed. "What do THEY have to do about anything?"

Wide, mis-matched eyes stared back at Quackerjack incredulously. "They're fellow villains. Our friends! They just happen to have the same enemy as we do! Come on! It's Bushy and Likky! They can help us out!"

Quackerjack adjusted his bad leg better on the bed before answering, his beak downturned into a frown. "This might be a stupid question to ask, but: Don't you remember, Megsy?" The only reply he received was a blank look from his friend. Quackerjack should have expected as much. "Don't you remember Liquidator? Don't you remember what he did to you not even a week ago? He sold you out so to that hideous….scary monster….Paddywhack….." Quackerjack took a moment to shiver.

"As bad as my memory is, I do remember that Quacky" retorted Megavolt with a frown. He hated being constantly reminded of his bad memory. "I'm not happy about that either and that drip-face is far from my favorite person right now, but don't you think this is a little too serious to let things like that bother us? Negaduck tried to kill us, Quacky. We can't just let that go. And those two guys, along with Darkwing, can help us."

Quackerjack crossed his arms once more and scowled at the rodent. He hated to admit it, but Megavolt was right. This was far more serious than ever before. Adding Liquidator and Bushroot into the mix would only help their chances at stopping Negaduck once and for all.

"Megsy…When did things get so complicated? I miss going out through St. Canard and playing with my toys and wreaking havoc! Giggling madly as I go through the town naked." Quackerjack started laughing at the memories while Megavolt just stared at him.

"You walked through the town naked?" asked Megavolt skeptically.

"Hahahahahaha! Goodness no!" guffawed Quackerjack, laughing even harder. Megavolt seemed to relax slightly at this. Quackerjack calmed himself down slightly enough to say, "…I RAN naked…."

Megavolt smile disappeared.

If it was possible, Quackerjack's smile widened even more, all of his buck teeth showing. "You're picturing it, aren't you?" teased the jester slyly.

Quackerjack watched as Megavolt's whole face turned red. "SHUT UP!" snapped the electrified villain. Quackerjack's giggles filled up the room. After a moment to compose himself, his face still beet red, Megavolt groaned and said, "Quacky, listen. As soon as you're out of here, we have got to find Bushroot and Liquidator and tell them of my plan and see if they want to help."

"Ughh…..fiiiine" groaned the jester. "You can be such a fuddy duddy sometimes, Megs!"

It was at this moment that a young nurse walked through the door with a clipboard in her hand. "Alright, Mr. Bell, and how might you be feeling this morning—"She stopped short though when she saw Megavolt standing next to his bed. "Oh, sir, siting hours aren't until ten. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Megavolt looked at curiously for a moment, before reaching over and grabbing her arm. Wordlessly, he sent an electric shock through his fingertips and another second later, the young brown haired nurse fell to the floor in a faint.

"Megsy! What'd ya do to her?" asked an inquisitive Quackerjack as he looked over the edge of the bed trying his bed to get a glimpse of the nurse on the floor.

"I just gave her a mild shock. She'll wake up after a while" shrugged Megavolt, obviously not concerned at all about her. He turned to Quackerjack. "Now that I think about it, we probably should get you out of here. Do you really feel like paying for any of this?"

"Eeeek! No! I try saving all my money for Jell-O, bubblegum, and toys!" Without another word, the two of them started working on getting Quackerjack out of the bed. "Megsy! I don't wanna wear this thing any more!" he whined, referring to his cast. Megavolt helped Quackerjack sit up at the edge of the bed, realizing the kind of problem they had before them.

"Well, we certainly can't just take it off, can we?"

"The nurse lady said I didn't have to have it on long."

"Yeah, well, you say lots of things. It's staying on. Can you walk?" inquired Megavolt as he grabbed Quackerjack's right hand and helped him stand up from the bed. They would soon get their answer.

"Owie…." Mumbled Quackerjack as he stood, putting a good deal of his weight on his leg. "I think I'll be okay. At least the cast doesn't cover my whole foot. Just my leg" he pointed out with a small smile.

Megavolt started walking along with him to the door, planning on walking right out of the hospital. He figured that if anyone got in their way, a couple more electric shocks would have to be in order. Quackerjack walked on his leg attentively, making sure not to put too much pressure on it. He was excited and elated at the thought of getting out of the hospital, but he knew at the same time that if Megavolt felt that he needed to stay there due to too much pain, the rodent wouldn't hesitate to keep him there; emergency or not.

As they walked out into the white hallway, Quackerjack couldn't help but speak up. "Megs….why haven't you ever run throughout the streets naked?"

The only response he got back from his question was a low groan from Megavolt.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"You think we should team up with Darkwing?" repeated Liquidator dubiously. He was having a difficult time trying to grasp the idea. A harder time than he should be having. "But why? He is our enemy."

Bushroot shrugged, glancing over and noting that Spike was currently whimpering and hiding underneath one of his lab tables. The Venus Flytrap knew Liquidator well; for Spike was worried that liquefied villain would lose his temper again as he had in the past. Sighing, Bushroot ran a hand through his purple foliage and focused on the matter at hand. "He's not MY enemy. Remember, when I reformed? He let me off the hook. He understood that I didn't really want to be a villain, or that I never really was?"

"This consumer would like to know what that has to do with this business arrangement" implored Liquidator. He crossed his almost translucent arms across his chest. Bushroot took a step away from the other villain, liking the several steps worth of distance between them as they spoke of such a touchy subject.

"The point I'm trying to make by bringing that up is that he helped me. He's not all bad. We're the villains, remember. He's not evil. He won't turn on people, even if they are villains. He won't be happy about it, but he'll help us. I know he will" pointed out Bushroot.

"Are you planning on involving Quackerjack and Megavolt into this plan?" was Liquidator's next question.

Bushroot nodded. "I don't see why not."

Liquidator's frown softened as he stepped closer to Bushroot and wrapped an arm around him. Bushroot's plant skin immediately started tingling under the sensation of water, but both of them knew there was no time for that. "You know…..they probably still haven't forgiven me."

"No. I doubt it."

"So, should we go find them?"

"No."

Liquidator's long ears perked up along with his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"They're already here." Bushroot pointed with his leafy hand towards the glass doors to his greenhouse. Liquidator looked to where he was pointing and could see Megavolt helping a miserable Quackerjack limp his way up the grassy hill the greenhouse sat on. "My plants always make a fuss when people walk up here. Especially those two…."

Bushroot shrugged off Liquidator's arm and walked over to open the glass door, just in time for Megavolt and Quackerjack to walk in. "What happened to you?" was the first words out of Bushroot's mouth to greet them.

"Negs is what happened! Big meanie!" pouted Quackerjack, now fully clad in his jester outfit, the bells at the end of his hat jingling like always. Now that they were through the door, the mallard's white cast was now in full sight. It made it so that Quackerjack was unable to bend his knee on that leg. It ended halfway down his leg.

"Did he break your leg?" Liquidator wanted to know.

Quackerjack shot the liquefied dog a piercing glare before answering. "No. He shot me in the leg."

Megavolt, who still had Quackerjack's arm around his neck, snorted. "Yeah, but he was aiming for his heart." Quackerjack nodded sadly, the ends of his hat bouncing up and down with it.

"My God! This is serious! I mean, I knew Negs was trying to kill us. He tried to kill me a little while ago, actually, but Liquidator was able to stop him just in time" Bushroot explained. The sound of scraping metal against concrete reached their ears and they all turned around to see Spike pushing a chair up towards them with his overly large head. "Oh, thank you, Spike. That's a good boy!" Spike yipped happily at his Master's leafy fingers in approval, his large tongue hanging out.

Quackerjack promptly sat down without a word, purposefully looking away from Liquidator. This action did not go unnoticed. Megavolt caught it, along with Liquidator. The rodent cleared his throat. "So….I guess you're wondering why we're here…"

"Not really. It's probably a good thing you are here, because, you saved us the trouble of finding you" replied Bushroot, nervously twisting his hands together and shifting his weight from foot to foot. It was evident that each of them was tense, each for a different reason. They could all feel it; the tension in the air. It was unfamiliar to all of them. Never had they felt this awkward around each other; they had always just accepted each villain for who they were. They had their arguments from time to time, but that was to be expected with a group of convicts. But this time it was different. This time the stakes were higher. It was more than just snide remarks and unnecessary jokes that had them tense around each other this time. Now there was more to it. None of them had forgotten the recent events that made them so edgy around each other.

Megavolt, now wearing his yellow jumpsuit, gloves, battery, and plug hat, looked up from fixing his boot and jerked slightly. "You wanted to come find us? What for?"

Bushroot didn't respond right away. Instead, he shrugged and fiddled more with his hands. "Well, as I'm sure you know….."

"This is about that nasty fuddy duddy jerk, Negaduck, isn't it?" interrupted Quackerjack. Despite the cast, Quackerjack still looked as though he was ready to bounce up from his seat, and Bushroot figured he would the moment he could. It appeared that Quackerjack and Megavolt were just as alarmed and worried about Negaduck as he and Liquidator were.

"Yeah, it is, actually—"but Bushroot was cut off once again.

"Okay, listen to this! Crazy, 'Mr. I-have-a-fried-brain' over here" He took a moment to jab his thumb in the direction of Megavolt. "-thinks we should team up with Darkwing and have HIM help us stop Negaduck! Pfft! AS IF! Now, come on, Bushy, ol' pal, will you do me the honors and help me bash Megsy's head into the wall a few times. Maybe we can get his brain to start working again!"

"He says such nice things. You can see why we're together, can't you?" sneered Megavolt sarcastically. "He's upset because he doesn't like my idea. And he keeps using my bad memory and SLIGHTLY damaged brain from too many electrical neurons as a reason to torment me!"

Bushroot and Liquidator rolled eyes, knowing very well how Megavolt and Quackerjack could act around each other. But before anyone else could say anything, Quackerjack interrupted once more.

"Who says YOU get to decide what we're going to do!" demanded Quackerjack as he glared at Megavolt from his chair. He whipped his head around to look at Bushroot and Liquidator. "Who else here thinks we should get Darkwing to help us!" cried out Quackerjack, flailing his arms up in the air. He then immediately crossed his arms, making sure his hands weren't even remotely raised. "I certainly don't!"

"I….. I think we should work with Darkwing too….." piped up the meek baritone voice of Bushroot.

Quackerjack, who had been glaring at Megavolt, was looking as though he was terribly betrayed. "WHAT?"

"He's the only chance we have. Have we ever defeated Negaduck by ourselves? No. We had Darkwing help us out that one time. Darkwing Dork might be…..a dork…..but at least he's actually defeated Negs!" explained Megavolt, keeping a careful eye on Quackerjack, who seemed ready to explode from frustration.

"I agree with Megavolt completely. He IS our only chance. I mean, I wish we didn't have to resort to this, I really do, but I think it's the only other option we have" Bushroot defended.

Quackerjack, looking like a child who had just been told he was grounded for a month, turned his attention on Liquidator, who had, until the point, been simply standing at the sidelines watching. "What about you, drip face? What do YOU think about all this?" Judging by the jester's tone, Liquidator was far from being off the hook in his book. The ex-salesman was just surprised Quackerjack had regarded his presence at all.

Liquidator made an unsure answer, opening his mouth without saying anything. It was rare for this canine to be at a loss of words, but it seemed to be happening more and more lately. Scratching the back of his watery neck, Liquidator began by saying, "Well, it's certainly is not on my top favorite plans list, but I also know that these two have a point."

Quackerjack growled in frustration, having not liked that answer in the least. "Ugh, you're betraying AND useless!" The jester then promptly started stomping his feet on the ground, not bothering to be mindful of his bad leg.

Liquidator frowned deeply at this and opened his mouth to retaliate before Bushroot stepped in. "Listen!" he hollered so that he could be heard, putting his arms up in surrender. The last thing they needed was another fight. "I know you two aren't exactly on good terms right now, but we need to forget what is going on between us. We need to focus on what is important. And that is Negaduck trying to kill us! Now, let's work together on this and figure out a way to get a hold of Darkwing and see if he'll help us out. Agreed?"

The four of them nodded together.

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Darkwing yawned largely as he pulled back into the chair he was sitting in and stretched his arms widely over his head. He had been unable to sleep well for the last few days; only able to grab a few hours' worth of sleep. All of the stress in the past week was finally catching up to him. He didn't know what he was going to do in the slightest. He knew the three day time limit Negaduck had given was almost over, if not already. It was only a matter of time before Negaduck would strike again. According to the news channel, Negaduck and his gang of thugs had practically taken over the whole St. Canard Park. Normally, the vigilante would jump at the opportunity to stop Negaduck but he knew his evil copy was only doing it to get at him. He knew Negaduck was doing all that destruction at the park as a way to get Darkwing's attention.

It was certainly working. Not only was it grabbing his attention, but it was also grabbing the entire city's attention. The media had been going stir crazy the last few days trying to get story after story, update after update as to what Negaduck was up to. It was rather annoying really.

Darkwing hated to admit it to himself, but there had once been a time when he would have loved a crime like this, with all this excitement and drama and the media being so involved; but not anymore. Perhaps it was because now it was real. There was that old saying: be careful what you wish for. This was the perfect time for that analogy.

Darkwing had been sitting at his desk in the Tower for the last hour or so, going through old crime files and having a few chats with an irate J. Gander Hooter. The short owl was not keeping his annoyance and anger hidden very well and made it quite clear that he wished Darkwing to clear up this mess with Negaduck as soon as possible.

Clicking on the many buttons of his computer, the crime fighter watched as the large computer screen before him came to life and a previously shot news reel came on. The news reporter was barely able to give her report as she tried covering the devastation currently taking place at the park. Several of Negaduck's thugs, all dressed in black could be seen terrorizing any civilians that came their way. One of the reporters had even been grabbed by thugs and the camera person was only able to watch in panic.

Darkwing watched as the camera shook back and forth as the person behind the camera was trying to help her friend.

"Hey, stop that! Get off of her! Kat! Get away from him!" cried Samara the camera woman. Kat had been so eager to work on this story and had such a brilliant theory about the Fearsome Four and their part in all this, but now, she truly wished she had listened to her friend's advice and stayed off the case. The brown haired raccoon woman tried pulling herself away from her attacker but found it useless. Without having any other choice, Kat moved her chin down so that her mouth was closer to the man's arm around her neck and bit down into the hand that held her as hard as she could.

The large thug hollered out in pain as he released her. The camera, still being run by Samara, caught all of this on the video Darkwing was currently watching. Just before the camera shut off, Darkwing could hear the woman say as they ran away, "Come on, let's go, Samara! I should have listened to you!"

"I know—"the rest of Samara's words were cut off when the camera quit playing. Static was all that was on the large screen now.

Taking off his purple fedora hat, Darkwing sighed and sat back into his chair. "What am I going to do?" he asked himself, his voice echoing in the silence of the Tower. Morgana was still at the restaurant with her family trying to restore what was left of everything. He hadn't heard from Gosalyn or Launchpad. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Darkwing pinched the bridge of his beak, closing his eyes.

Suddenly, the screen came back to life, no longer showing fuzz. Darkwing opened his eyes to see it was J. Gander Hooter was more. "Ugh, you haven't called to curse me out again, have you, Hooter?"

Hooter, unimpressed with the mallard's comment, grimaced. "No, Darkwing. I have not. Though I won't deny it would make me feel better. No. I have called you in regards of some rather interesting news. We have just received a letter. A letter in which is addressed to you." Hooter held up a small white envelope so that Darkwing could see. "Now, we were given strict instructions from this letter to not open it. If we must read it, then we are to be sure to let you read it first. We immediately suspected it to be another letter from Negaduck."

Darkwing, now fully invested into the conversation, could only nod. Who else would be sending him a letter? However, there was always that small thread of hope that it was Gosalyn and Launchpad sending him a letter to let them know they were still alright and demanding to know what was happening. But at the same time, Darkwing also knew that neither of them would go to such lengths just to send him a letter.

Hooter continued speaking, "However, this letter is not from Negaduck. Rather, the Fearsome Four."

Darkwing felt the color drain from his face. "Why would they be sending me a letter?"

"That is the question on all of our minds, Darkwing" retorted Hooter as he pushed his small spectacles higher up on his beak. "I am in the process of sending you a scan of the letter. Now, I can inform you with great honesty, no one here at S.P.E.C. or myself have read the contents of this letter. I will myself read it only after you yourself have. But I must tell you, Darkwing, in any normal circumstances, I would have read it regardless, being who I am. But seeing as grave things are at the current time, I have taken a different course."

Moments later, the fax machine to Darkwing's left chirped to life as the scan was sent to him. Darkwing snatched the piece of paper from the machine the second it was done and began reading it.

Darkwing,

We have an idea that might be able to stop Negaduck. We know we're not your favorite people in the world right now, but Megavolt, Liquidator, Quackerjack, and I are willing to help you if you'll help us in return. Meet us at ten O'clock in the middle of the St. Canard Tower Bridge so that we can figure all this out in person. Hope you'll show.

-The Fearsome Four

Darkwing read the letter several times before finally coming to grasp the concept of what was written on it. Hooter, who was still on the screen waiting, grew impatient. "So? What does it say, boy!"

"The Fearsome Four want to help me stop Negaduck" whispered Darkwing.

"Are you sure it is not come kind of trick?" inquired Hooter.

Darkwing shrugged, still in a bit of a daze from the shock. "Seeing as how Negaduck has been trying to kill them the last few days, I would say, no. It's not a trick."

"Darkwing! You are not seriously going to –"

Darkwing turned off the computer. He didn't wish to hear anymore; didn't wish to hear any more of what Hooter had to say. He honestly didn't know what he was going to do.

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"Do you think he'll come?"

"Of course, he won't! He's a no good, fuddy duddy! Not to mention a coward!"

"Are you confused? Are you uncertain? Do you have doubts that –"

"Shut it, Drip Face!"

"Why don't you go play on the receiving end of one your blow-up dolls, clown boy?" sneered Liquidator.

"Stop it, both of you!" hissed Bushroot. "

"Oh, suddenly Bush-Brain has a backbone!"

"Quackerjack!"

Darkwing was able to hear the four of them bicker at each other even from clear up at the top of the Tower. Those four could be incredibly loud and obnoxious when they wished to be, that was for sure. He took in a deep breath and knew what he had to do.

Megavolt was using all his strength to keep Quackerjack from walking up to Liquidator and doing something he would regret later. The rodent honestly didn't know why the jester was even bothering; it wasn't as though Liquidator could be attacked like a normal person. He was made out of water, it was hard to hurt someone who was made out of a liquid.

"Quackerjack, would you just calm down? I know you don't want to be here working with Liquidator or Darkwing, but we have to do this—" reasoned Megavolt. Bushroot was standing in the middle of Liquidator and Quackerjack, hoping to keep the two of them from getting at each other's throats.

"Well, SOR-RY for not wanting to work with a traitor!" snarled Quackerjack.

Bushroot and Liquidator both went to speak at once when someone cleared their throat. The four villains froze and looked over to find that Darkwing Duck was standing several yards away, his arms crossed over his chest, and tapping his foot on the cement impatiently.

Megavolt released Quackerjack who stood up straight as he could with his cast and the four of them stood in a straight line; Quackerjack and Liquidator slightly farther back than the others.

"Well, I'm here. Let's get this over with" began Darkwing.

Bushroot perked up at this, smiling slightly. "So, you're going to help us?"

Darkwing considered his question for a moment before replying. "Well, we're all kind of desperate at this point. And pretty much all in the same boat…."

"This is stupid!" spat Quackerjack.

Darkwing raised his brow at this. "What? Don't you all agree on this?"

"Eh, no…." admitted Megavolt as he anxiously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, who here is for the idea of me helping you guys? Because, I frankly have no problem leaving you guys to it." Darkwing turned to leave, but stopped when Bushroot cried out.

"No, no, no!" cried Bushroot, his hands around in front of him. He looked at Megavolt, who nodded. The two them then wordlessly stepped up, showing that it was them who thought it was a good idea. "Megavolt and I think it's a good idea."

Darkwing couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought that Megavolt wanted his help. His old friend wanted his help…..

"It's a bad idea!" cried Quackerjack, stepping forward. "He's never helped us before and he won't help us now! Once a goodie-two-shoe, always a goodie-two-shoe! We're criminals, remember? The second he's done helping us, he's going to take us to jail and betray us! Just like he did the last time after he helped us get our powers back from Negaduck!"

Uncertain silence fell over the group, the night sky starting to be taken over by thick black clouds. Thunder could be heard rolling in from the distance. This wasn't getting them anywhere.

Darkwing took a deep breath, knowing what he had to do. For years now he has called himself a crime fighter; a protector of the innocent. Well, right now, millions of innocent lives were currently at risk because of Negaduck. Not just St. Canard. Negaduck wouldn't stop at St. Canard. He would continue until he took over the world. He knew it. Everyone knew it. So, now was the moment of truth. He hated to work with his enemies, but right now, they were his only allies. The thunder grew louder as Darkwing prepared what he was going to say in his head..

"Look, I don't know about you four, but I want to stop Negaduck from terrorizing St. Canard! I know we haven't exactly, been on good terms, what with you being villains and me being the awesome crime fighter I am." Darkwing paused, pleased with himself, but frowned the moment he saw the others frowning at him. He cleared his throat, pushing his ego aside. "Anyways, look…..Negaduck is obviously serious this time. He's not kidding around. He thinks he can just push us around and do whatever he likes. It's time we prove to him what we're made of!"

Bushroot, Liquidator, Quackerjack, and Megavolt were all silent, all listening and thinking about what was being said. They all knew it was true. They listened as Darkwing continued, "I know we can do this! We can stop Negaduck once and for all if we all are just willing to work together! All of you were great people once, believe it or not…." Huffed Darkwing.

Darkwing pointed to Bushroot. "Bushroot, you were once a brilliant, respected botanist at one of the greatest laboratories in the world. All you wanted to do was make the world a better place by solving world hunger." Bushroot smiled and couldn't help but blush at his words.

"Megavolt, you were the smartest kid in our class. The school genius. You just….weren't the most popular. But you had a goal and dream to use your scientific mind to help find a safer way to conduct electricity by using static electricity." Megavolt scratched his head, nearly knocking over his plug hat as he wracked his brain trying to remember what experiment Darkwing was talking about.

Quackerjack was the next one Darkwing pointed at. "Quackerjack, yeah, you're crazy now, but there was a time when all you wanted to do was make toys for kids and make them happy. And Liquidator-"Darkwing stopped mid-sentence, his mind going blank as he stared at the liquid convict. He grilled his brain trying to think of something good to say, but nothing came up. "Um…..I'm sure there was a time in your life when you…..didn't want to con people into giving you more money than they should….." Darkwing shrugged, having no idea what to say. Liquidator grunted as he sneered at Darkwing, ignoring the snickers he was getting from Megavolt and Quackerjack.

Darkwing continued before anything started between them. "All I'm saying is that you were all great people before some bad luck came into your life. You're so much better than Negaduck gives you credit for. When was the last time Negaduck said anything somewhat positive about you? Never! He thinks we're worthless and can't stand up to him. He couldn't be more wrong! Bushroot, you have amazing powers with plants. Megavolt, you're a genius when it comes to anything electrical or scientific. Quackerjack, you're creative and clever, which is what we'll need. Liquidator, there isn't a problem out there you can't weasel yourself out of thanks to your cunning wit! And with my help, we can stop Negaduck once and for all! Who is with me?"

The four villains looked at each other, debating.

"I'm in" chirped Bushroot, stepping over to Darkwing.

"Me too!" declared Megavolt, also stepping up next to Darkwing.

"You have this consumer sold" beamed Liquidator. Yet when he stepped close to Darkwing, he pointed a finger at him. "But don't think I'll be forgetting that you couldn't think of a good quality for me!" Darkwing nodded and gulped.

"Oh, fiiiiine. If all the other children are gonna be teaming up with the bully, I might as well, too!" groused the jester, though he stayed where he was due to his cast.

"Alright, then, boys, not that that's settled….." he narrowed his eyes and pulled down on his fedora hat. "Let's get dangerous…."

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Author's Note: And there is chapter 6! I bit longer than I prefer to make my chapters but seeing as how its nearly been a year since I've updated this story, I'm thinking that's not a problem. This chapter was really difficult for me to write. This was basically a fill in chapter; a chapter that needed to be written after all the events I jam-packed into the last one. Ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would. No, Negaduck wasn't in this one, but I can promise you, he will be in the next one. I hope I was able to keep everything in character. And I hope even more that you all really liked this chapter. Please review, I wanna know what all of you think! -EricaX


	7. Chapter 7

Broken Ties

Chapter 7

Author's Note: Hello. I tried my best to update as soon as possible. Over Thanksgiving break I was able to find some time to sit down with my thoughts and attempt to get them typed down. This is the second to last chapter for Broken Ties. Anyways, on with the chapter! I hope you enjoy it! –EricaX

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Dusk was starting to fall over St. Canard, which filled everyone with a feeling of dread. Night was a time they all dreaded on any normal day; considering all of the super villains that have resided in their city over the years. However, this was not a normal night. This was a night everyone knew that Negaduck would rein true terror over them.

Darkwing Duck had been given three days to give up his side-kick and best friend, Launchpad McQuack. Yet without even having to watch the news, they knew the vigilante would never give up his friend in such a way. Many doubted their crime fighter had any clue as to what he was doing. Many demanded that Gizmoduck come and help them from Duckberg, though the mechanical marvel had yet to be seen or show any signs of coming.

As dusk continued to fall closer and closer to night, everyone rushed home, not wishing to be on the terrorized streets alone. Many of Negaduck's black dressed lackies and followers were currently roaming around the streets of St. Canard, looking for anything or anyone to mess with. Explosions and crashes could be heard left and right as the thugs worked their way through the streets, vandalizing anything they could think of trashing. Stores were broken into, cars were smashed, roadway signs were ripped out of the cement. St. Canard has gone through many trying times through the years, yet this one seemed to be the most violent. Usually it was just a flood from Liquidator, or a power outage from Megavolt. Yet this time, individual damage was being done and the civilians of the city couldn't decide what was worse. Many would probably sigh with relief if they saw Quackerjack's large teddy bears walking down the streets; which was crazy in itself.

The center of all the chaos was the St. Canard park, where the majority of Negaduck's thugs and followers were hanging around at, waiting for instructions. Many of them were carrying large heavy bags filled with money over to where Negaduck stood in the front of the park, dropping the bags at his feet as he stood there, waiting. Negaduck seemed to be paying little to no attention to the billions of dollars being dropped at his feet with each passing bag. His attention was focused out on the street before him, his gaze far away as though he were lost in thought. In his hands he held a gun, fiddling with it absentmindedly.

Many of the thugs looked at his expression and flinched back after dropping the money bags. Negaduck's expression was menacing, sending chills down their spines. The yellow clad duck seemed oblivious to this as he snapped out of his thoughts and pulled out his small gold pocket watch. He read the time and snarled. Darkwing's time had long been up. Nothing had been heard from the hero for several hours and with each minute, Negaduck grew angrier.

Taking a sigh, he muttered darkly, "Ya gotta do everything yourself these days…" He turned to where the looters had been collecting video cameras and stereo equipment. "Hey! You!" he snapped at a random thug who was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. The tall muscular pit bull flinched and with wide eyes looked to Negaduck. "Bring me over a video recorder!"

The pit bull wasted no time searching through the loot in search for a video recorder, his hands fumbling with nerves even more with each passing second. He knew Negaduck was not a patient duck. He found one and snatched it quick, sprinting over to Negaduck to hand it to him.

"About time, you great oaf!" barked the duck. Negaduck snatched the recorder and turned it on, making sure the camera was rolling and ready to go before turning it to face him, hitting the button to start recording.

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"Huey! Come back with that!" came the outcry of little Webby as she chased after the duckling dressed in red, hoping to take back the little doll that was stolen from her. As they ran down the hallway, Gosalyn came out from the room she had been staying in the last few days. She watched as Huey and Webby ran down the hallway, a sullen look on her face. Despite Huey, Dewey, and Louie's best efforts, they were unsuccessful in cheering Gosalyn up. Unlike her usual rowdy self, she felt it nearly impossible to so much as give a witty comeback. Her mind was too focused on how her dad was doing back in St. Canard.

It worried her so much that she couldn't be there to help him. After a day of trying to sneak into one of the planes or escape and make her way to St. Canard, it occurred to her that Scrooge's mansion was nothing like sneaking out of her own home. The amount of security around the place made her head spin. She wasn't used to it at all.

Therefore, she simply gave up, not having the energy to try anymore. Besides, it wasn't the same without her dad being the one there to try to stop her. Everyone at the McDuck mansion had been more than kind to her, it wasn't that. Mrs. Beakley, Duckworth, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, and even Fenton have made both she and Launchpad feel very welcome and relaxed. They just weren't Drake Mallard, the father she loved to drive nuts.

Gosalyn could still hear little Webby crying to get her doll back. As the two ducklings ran by, Gosalyn, quick as lightning, snatched the doll out of Huey's hands, catching the male duckling by surprise and causing him to almost run into a table with a vase of flowers on it. "Heyy!" he cried out in mild annoyance. He turned to see Gosalyn holding the little doll as Webby caught up with them.

Through her gulps of breath, Webby said, "Thank you, Gosalyn." Gosalyn gave her a wan smile before handing her the doll. The red head then turned her attention back to Huey as Webby skipped down the hall in the opposite direction.

"What'd you do that for? I was only having some fun" he inquired with a frown.

"Go have fun doing something else then. I can't stand boys picking on girls. Makes me sick the way boys think they can bully little girls. I don't care if her dress makes me wanna hurl or not" elucidated Gosalyn as she crossed her arms.

"I wasn't bullying her. Just teasing, that's all" he defended. He paused a moment and watched as Gosalyn rolled her eyes. "What's the matter? The other day you were really fun. Now you're all boring and mopey. Is it because you're worried about Darkwing?"

"Yeah…."mumbled Gosalyn reluctantly. She hated showing any kind of weakness.

"He'll be okay. I know he will be. You just have to stay positive" he encouraged.

Gosalyn nodded, knowing he was right. It was just so hard sometimes. Gosalyn opened her mouth to say something when the sound of someone running down the hall grabbed their attention. It was Dewey and Louie. They stopped before them, panting and out of breath.

"Gosalyn" gasped Dewey. "Come quick! There's something on the news about Negaduck!"

"Yeah" nodded Louie, who was also trying to catch his breath. "Launchpad told us to come find you."

Gosalyn looked between both boys, her eyes wide with panic. "Well what are you boys waiting for? Take me to Launchpad!" she demanded.

Dewey and Louie nodded simultaneously and hurriedly turned around, running back down the hall with Gosalyn and Huey on their heels.

By the time the four of them reached the den where Launchpad, Mrs. Beakley, Duckworth, Fenton, Scrooge, and Webby were watching the news, a million thoughts had run through Gosalyn's mind over what could be taking place over in St. Canard. The boys had said it was something about Negaduck, which didn't help her anxiety in the least.

She stopped short next to Launchpad, who was standing next to the large armchair Scrooge was currently sitting in, his gaze focused in on the television. What she saw on the screen made her stomach feel as though it had dropped to the floor.

"This just in." the newscaster was saying. "We have just received a new clip from Negaduck himself, which is addressed to both St. Canard's citizens and Darkwing Duck himself. Tad, can we show it?"

Another moment later and the screen filled up with what looked like a home video. The video started out facing the grassy ground, jolting back and forth for a few seconds as the owner adjusted it. A pair of feet with thick black boots could be seen on the screen and some mumbled curses as the camera was handed to someone else. The video screen then moved upwards and focused in on the yellow clad, red fedora-hatted villain; Negaduck. The duck's expression was a scowl as he looked at someone off screen; more than likely the person holding the camera. His attention then turned to the video.

"Greetings, St. Canard" he sneered to the camera, his persona anything but friendly and welcoming. "As I'm sure you're aware, I'm in the midst of taking over your precious city. And for those of who don't know, Darkwing's time to turn in that idiot oaf, Launchpad McQuack is up." He showed his gold pocket watch up for effect. "I was deeply disappointed in our vigilante, but now this simply means I get to take over and destroy all of your innocent lives. Now, honestly, what kind of a hero is that?"

It was clear that Negaduck's intentions for this video were to taunt Darkwing and to put doubt in everyone's minds of Darkwing and his capabilities as a super hero. It made Gosalyn's blood boil. She scowled as she continued to watch the video.

Negaduck's mockingly sweet behavior changed drastically, his voice turning cold. "Now, this goes directly to you, Darkwing, wherever the Hell you are. I'm tired of your little games. I gave you three days to bring me that miserable excuse of a pilot and you failed. Be here at the St. Canard Park in an hour or the city burns." He pulled up a blow torch, making sure it could be seen on screen. "I'm a very impatient duck, Darky, you know this. Don't keep me waiting or you'll pay the consequences!"

The video then went out and the newscaster was back. Gosalyn sighed; closing her eyes, unclenching her hands she didn't know had balled into fists at her sides. She looked up at Launchpad, who looked back down at her, his expression lost.

No one knew what to say. At least now they knew that Darkwing was alive, though that was good and bad. Good that he was alive, but bad that he has yet to do anything about Negaduck. His inactivity was odd but in this case, expected. How did anyone know what to do?

Scrooge leaned back slightly in his place on the chair, looking behind Launchpad and Gosalyn, his eyes half hidden behind his spectacle glasses as they searched out for one person. They landed on Fenton who noticed his look and met his gaze. Scrooge gave him a knowing look, in which Fenton nodded back, knowing what the older duck wished of him without words being spoken.

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Drumming his fingers along the cold metal of his gun, Negaduck tapped his foot on the grassy ground impatiently. The video had been on the air for almost a quarter of an hour and still no sign of Darkwing Duck. His mood was worsening by the minute and the thugs and criminals around him all knew this well. They could tell to stay a good distance away and not to make any disturbing noise. None of them wished to give the evil mallard an excuse to take out his anger on them.

Another five minutes went by, the city now pitched in darkness as the sun was fully set for the evening. It was then that a movement ahead of him caught Negaduck's eye and he squinted in the darkness beyond the park to see what it was.

Darkwing Duck was walking toward the park, his head held high, his purple cape billowing ever so slightly in the wind behind him. His fists were balled up with tension at his sides as he walked; his face expressionless. His fedora hat made it impossible to see his eyes.

"Well, well, well! What is THIS, Darky? No smoke? No entrance? No corny introductions?" guffawed Negaduck, bewildered and amused. "This is your big shining hour! I was half expecting you to be so late cause you were figuring out what you wanted to say as your opening!"

Seeing that Negaduck was amused gave the thugs and criminals around them some confidence and the courage to laugh and chuckle a little themselves. Darkwing on the other hand ignored them all, stopping several yards in front of Negaduck.

Negaduck, enjoying himself as he poked fun at his enemy, leaned down to try to see more of Darkwing's face underneath his fedora hat. "That IS you under there, right, Darkwing the Dork? Or are you just some freak kid being funny?"

"Let's just get this over with, Negs. I'm here. Which is what you wanted" growled Darkwing, finally bringing up his head enough so his whole face could be seen.

"No. What I had wanted was for you to bring me your idiot pilot. But I see he's not here with you nor is the little annoying red head." He gave him a fake pout. "What's the matter, are they too afraid now to show themselves?" He grimaced, his voice back to normal. "I'll bet you sent them someplace. Like Duckberg; thinking they're safe. As if. Once I take over St. Canard, it'll only be a matter of time until I hunt them down as I attack Duckberg too."

Darkwing bit back a snarl as his fists tightened at his sides. The very thought of seeing those three little boys, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and sweet little Webby having to deal with Negaduck made him sick to his stomach. He refused to ever let that happen. He didn't want Scrooge McDuck to have to deal with that. He had his own problems protecting his fortune.

"You won't get that far" hissed Darkwing.

"Oh? And who's going to stop me? You? I doubt it. You're alone. No one is here to help you. I'm surprised you didn't try getting the Witless Four to help you. You did that one time" accused Negaduck.

"I did ask for their help" began Darkwing, only stopping briefly to hear Negaduck snort back his laughter. "I went to them to see if they'd help me but they said no. Though they'd love to see you gone and dead about as much as I would."

"The feeling is mutual" stated Negaduck. His laughter was gone and replaced with a sneer. He raised his gun so that it was pointing at Darkwing, signaling for two nearby thugs to grab him by the arms.

Darkwing was suddenly attacked on both sides, two large twin bulldogs grabbing him roughly by the arms so that he couldn't escape.

"Now, Darky, let's get back to business. I thought tonight we would do things a little differently. No elaborate traps. No machines of death, well, unless you count my loyal chainsaw. But no….none of that. Just you, me, and my friend here" he held up the gun, flicking it in the air a bit with his wrist before pointing it back to the hero's chest.

Darkwing didn't say anything, just struggled in the bulldog's grip.

"Strip him" commanded Negaduck in a dead pan voice.

Darkwing's eyes immediately widened. "WHAT!" he squeaked in alarm, struggling even harder now to get away. Unfortunately, in his flustered state, his face did all the talking as it turned cherry red underneath his feathers.

"My, my, Darkwing. And here I thought 'I' was the one with the dirty mind" sniggered Negaduck.

Despite what Darkwing believed Negaduck's command to his thugs meant, he still struggled, noting that they weren't actually stripping him, only stripping him of his weapons. Embarrassment and shame filled the hero. Of course that had been what Negaduck meant! Why he had thought any differently was beyond him. He struggled as they took the weapons he carried with him; his smoke bombs, gas gun, cufflinks, and several other things.

Once checking to make sure the vigilante was rendered defenseless, the thugs held tightly to him, having collected his things into a pile several feet away, waiting for Negaduck's next command.

"Well, this is certainly starting out to be a most satisfying night, indeed, isn't it boys?" called out Negaduck, receiving a loud cheer of victory from his men. Negaduck allowed them to have their cheer, sneering at Darkwing, his face also containing what looked like demented glee. "Tonight we take out St. Canard's infamous hero; the dolt that goes flapping his mouth in the night; the idiot that strikes no fear into people's heart: Darkwing Dufus."

Another round of laughter filled the air as the thugs laughed at Negaduck's words. Darkwing just glared at them, his struggling having stopped. He knew it was no use; the thugs were immensely stronger than he was. Another reason was that he didn't wish for Negaduck to be rushed into anything. He wanted Negaduck to feel as though he had the upper hand, even though Darkwing himself wasn't too sure if he did or not anymore.

Negaduck feigned sadness as he shook his head. "I will admit, Darky, I'm not entirely sure what I will do with my life once you are gone." He took a moment to sigh, looking forlornly down at the grass. "I suppose I will just have to move on with my life of villainy and make the best of taking over St. Canard." Darkwing rolled his eyes, knowing there was nothing sympathetic in Negaduck's words. "I really think that will be the only thing that will sooth the loss…."

"Just get this over with, Negs!" hissed Darkwing between bared teeth.

Negaduck cackled at his words. "Oh, no, Darky! I plan to enjoy this! For years I have dreaming about this day! I am not about to let it pass so quickly! That would be like finally getting the cookie you've wanted all day and eating it in one bite! I want to savor every moment of your death, Darkwing Duck!" barked Negaduck with an icy voice. He finally raised his gun, pointing it directly at Darkwing's chest. The two thugs holding him squirmed in their place, trying to make sure they weren't in firing range.

Darkwing was suddenly finding it very hard to breath. He was taking in large gulps of air as he forced himself not to hyperventilate. He had to keep his cool. There was no point in freaking out now. He was starting to doubt his decision about not coming with the Fearsome Four. Perhaps that had not been the best way to go. Perhaps they should have thought of another way to handle this. Yet there was no going back.

Darkwing could hear Negaduck click the gun out of safety, knowing the gun was pointing at his chest and ready to fire at any second. At any second it could all be over. It was funny; there had been so many times in the past when he was near death, yet this was the first time he seemed so aware of it; almost as though all his years of crime fighting he had been oblivious to the chance of death. Funny how the world worked that way.

"Alright, Darky. Time to die" snarled Negaduck icily, raising the gun to eye level, his finger on the trigger. His finger started to push on the trigger just as the ground beneath him started to rumble. Negaduck blinked, releasing the trigger and looked down at the ground in confusion. He gave a cry of alarm as a zap of electricity hit him in the wrist, causing the gun in his hand to go flying. Though he didn't have time to figure out what had happened as the ground continued to shake.

"Is it an earthquake, boss?" piped up a voice of one of the thugs.

Negaduck was at a loss of words as the ground just continued to quiver, the vibrations in the ground getting more and more intense. He honestly wasn't sure. He couldn't think of anything else that would be causing the quake. It then dawned on him, his eyes widening. "No, you idiot, it's not an earthquake! It's Bu—" but he was unable to continue his words as the earth underneath his webbed feet began to swell and he was knocked off balance, giving a shout of alarm. The earth swelled around the whole area, even near where Darkwing and the two thugs were standing. The two bulldogs holding Darkwing yelled out in fear and let go of the hero, allowing Darkwing freedom to move about again.

With a loud crack, the earth broke apart and a tangle of large, thick roots spilled out from the center of the swelling ground, spilling out everywhere. The thugs all around the park cried out in fear, no longer knowing what to do. Negaduck had been pushed violently down by the ground that was still shaking, dizzy and disoriented.

The roots continued to grow out from the ground, whipping and tearing at everything and everyone they could get their roots around. Many of the thugs were grabbed by the ankles by the roots and thrown several yards away. Darkwing, taking his chance, grabbed his gas gun, cufflinks, smoke bombs and weapons that had been taken from him minutes prior.

The faint sound of jingling bells made him turn to his left, where he would see Quackerjack now standing broadly out in the open next to a devious looking Megavolt. The thromping of moving tree trunks then had the hero turn to his right, where he could see Bushroot being carried by a tree that walked before a small army of trees. The fire hydrants in the surrounding area burst from the ground, shooting up into the air as an immense amount of water started pulsing out of them, the pressure was that strong. The water morphed into the form of Liquidator.

Darkwing beamed at the four of them as he looked around, feeling pride swell in his chest. He knew they wouldn't let him down.

Quackerjack spun around on his heal from where he was standing next to Megavolt on the slight hill, his attention on something that couldn't be seen in the darkness. Several thugs whipped off their black masks so that they could see what he was up to better. They were baffled when a moment later the sound of little wooden snaps of footsteps could be heard and their eyes widened when they saw what was causing the noise.

An army of about 100 little toy soldiers with red uniforms, black boots, and black hats with little black guns could be seen marching their way closer and closer to the thugs. The soldiers came to a halt at the top of the small hill and Quackerjack skipped his way to the front as best he could with a bad leg. He flashed the thugs a wicked toothy grin and wagged his brows at them before leaning down to one of the toy soldiers in the front line and delicately fixed the little bow tie underneath the soldier's chin. Once it was straightened like the rest of the bows on the soldiers, he giggled and hobbled back to the back of the army of toys.

"IT'S PLAYTIME!" He hollered as loud as he could. "Go my little playthings! GO! It's war! Hahahahahaha!" The jester found himself choking on a fit of giggles and wiping back tears as the toy soldiers once again continued their march.

Once again, the thugs didn't know what they were meant to do. The six of them all looked at each other, some about ready to laugh at the idea of toys attacking them, while others were rolling their eyes. It wasn't until the toy soldiers were several feet away did they regret their laughter. The toys stopped marching and aimed their guns at the thugs. The thugs cried out in shock and pain as the guns shot little explosives at them, one of the thugs getting hit in the eye and howling in pain as he fell to the ground, only to be walked on by the soldiers as they pressed on in their march.

Negaduck, having recovered from the initial shock of the ground shaking, looked around him from where he had rolled on the ground at the front center of all that was going on. He growled darkly as he saw that it was the Fearsome Four, just as he had suspected. Darkwing had obviously lied to him about the Fearsome Four not willing to help him out. He should have known better. But now was not the time to go blaming himself. Now was the time to find his gun and to find Darkwing.

He peered behind him, seeing that Darkwing was free from his binds of the two bulldog thugs and now had all his weapons back. The yellow clad villain stood up, his dark mind calculating what his next move should be.

Meanwhile, Liquidator sloshed his way closer to where he knew Bushroot was fighting off some of Negaduck's cronies. He could see the mutant plant duck moving his arms wildly as he telepathically communicated with his tree army, telling them where to attack next. Movement caught his liquid eyes and the ex-salesman smirked as he watched two thugs attempt to sneak up on Bushroot.

Not on his watch.

The two thugs, one of them a rooster and the other one a canine, chuckled darkly to themselves as they raised their weapons, which consisted of two crowbars, and silently made their way closer to a distracted Bushroot. Yet their smirks vanished when they found themselves hoisted up into the air, their waists down being surrounded in water. They both screamed out in alarm.

"What's happening!" demanded one of them in a higher voice than they would normally use.

"I don't know!" replied the canine.

"Are you feeling out of place? Do you feel as though something is amiss? Then look no further! Liquidator is here to take away all your concerns and confusion!" they both heard a booming, gurgled voice call to them. Both of the thugs froze.

"I think this guy is Liquidator" stated the canine, staring with fear filled eyes at his friend.

His friend returned his gaze. "I think you're right..." whimpered his friend.

"Ahhh, it would seem my reputation precedes me! Then I shall cut with the talk and get straight to business!" replied Liquidator to their comments. Without another moment's haste, the two thugs were whipped around, the water that was holding them flinging them a good ten yards into the opposite direction, where they landed before members of the tree army. The two thugs scampered away, trying their best not to get trampled by the moving trees as they yelled and ran off.

Bushroot looked back, having heard the commotion. "Thanks, Likky!" he grinned; turning his attention back to guiding his plants. Liquidator simply smiled fondly at him for a moment before turning back to the fight at hand.

Megavolt was on the other side of the park area that the fighting was taking place at, making sure to keep a close eye on Quackerjack. He knew very well that despite the jester's overwhelming amount of bouncing energy, he was still injured. His leg still had the cast on it, which disabled him from doing many tricks he would normally perform in such a time as this. Though he was staying close to the jester, he was having his own fun. His plug hat glowed sparks of electricity and his blue rubber glues hummed with power.

"I think it's time for some target practice!" he proclaimed in his nasally voice. Still on the slight hill that Quackerjack had made his entrance on, he was able to overlook some of the battling going on and took his time choosing who would get a charge out of his presence.

Raising a hand, he zapped several of the thugs who jumped up in the air as they cried in pain at the sudden shock. He found it amusing at how bewildered they looked since his attacks were so sneaky. "This is what you tormentors get for all those years of enslaving light bulbs!" cried out the rodent, taking out his anger on them. It always felt good knowing he was sticking up for his precious luminaries.

By this time, most of Negaduck's thugs and small time criminals that he had gathered up over the last few days were starting to flee from the park altogether, no longer wishing to be a part of Negaduck's plan and having to deal with not only Darkwing Duck, but the Fearsome Four as well. This was far from what they had bargained for. However, as three thugs started running off, they were stopped by the exuberantly bright colors of Quackerjack's jester outfit. They flinched when they saw who it was before them.

One of the thugs was a canine, the other was a pig, and the third one was fox. The fox was standing in the middle of the canine and pig and jumped in fright when Quackerjack jumped before them as best he could with a bad leg.

"Awww! You look so sad!" Quackerjack was saying, the bells at the end of his hat ringing mischievously.

"Uhhh… yeah…" grunted the fox nervously, not knowing what was happening. His two friends had stepped back when Quackerjack had approached him. Quackerjack gave him a large smile which showed off all of his buck teeth. It was eerie the way the duck was staring at him, his crazed eyes boring into his own blue ones.

"Here is a present for ya! Maybe this'll cheer ya up!" giggled the jester, pushing a large brown teddy bear into the fox's stomach. The fox grunted at the impact, slightly winded, and grabbed onto the teddy bear without thinking, his eyes never leaving Quackerjack.

Without another moment's haste, Quackerjack whipped himself around, the ends of his hat hitting the fox in the face and pranced down the slight hill singing an off tune.

Now that the jester was safely away, the three thugs looked down at the teddy bear warily. "What is it?"

"A teddy bear."

"A teddy bear? Why the hell would he give you a measly teddy bear?"

"The guy is insane, remember?" provided the pig.

"Are you sure that's all it is?" asked the canine. The fox inspected the teddy bear for a moment, all three of them peering closely at it. It was then that the teddy bear practically came to life and a chainsaw popped out of its stuffed stomach. All three thugs screamed bloody murder before dropping the bear and taking off out of the park. The bear landed on the ground, the chainsaw still going at full force for several minutes before it died altogether.

Negaduck continued to walk through the park, keeping to the shadows, a look of disgust on his face as he watched all his cronies and thugs running in fear from the park. "Cowards" he hissed under his breath. He watched as Darkwing continued to fight off several thugs that were a bit braver. The thromping of Bushroot's trees were what caught his attention though. He watched as the mutant plant duck continued to order around his tree army. He knew it was only a matter of time before one of them made a mistake and he would be able to strike. He knew there was a chance he would be able to get back the upper hand; he just had to wait for the proper moment. He refused to give up now, when he had been so close to having Darkwing. He hid in the shadows behind a concrete statue; waiting.

Bushroot smiled with pride as his tree army whacked around some of the remaining thugs with their branches. Yet he realized a moment too late that someone was advancing behind him and he felt a heavy boot make contact with his back.

"Oof!" groaned Bushroot as he fell to the ground. "Hey!" he whipped around from where he was on the grass to see who had kicked him. His eyes widened as he gulped in fear though as he looked up to see a duck three times his size glaring down at him with pure anger.

"You little freak! I oughta teach you a lesson!" grunted the huge duck. Without warning, the thug grabbed Bushroot by the neck, raising him up in the air and holding onto his neck tightly, making Bushroot choke.

"Likky…" moaned Bushroot as he struggled to get out of the man's grip. He glanced around, hoping his liquid friend would be able to help him out again, but Liquidator was no where in sight. His head was starting to get dizzy, making it hard for him to focus and communicate with his plants. "Let me go…" he begged the thug. He squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he couldn't die from choking, but that didn't mean he wasn't still in a great deal of pain.

Just as the duck was clenching his fist tighter around Bushroot's neck, glaring down at him, everything seemed to disappear. The pain left immediately and air filled Bushroot's lungs, his root feet suddenly back down on the grass. He placed a leafy hand on his burning throat and groaned before opening his eyes. Blue eyes stared down at a chocolate Jell-O cake that sat on a little silver platter. The chocolate had two very frightened eyes and a beak. With a sudden revelation Bushroot realized it was the thug. Bushroot stood, completely flabbergasted, until he looked over to see Morgana McCawber standing behind the thug, her eyes staring down the thug turned dessert. Her arms were still raised from when she casted the spells, the long sleeves of her red dress draping down.

"Morgana!" smiled Bushroot. "Y-You saved me! Thank you!"

"It was nothing, Reggie, dear. I was only helping out a friend" countered Morgana with a smile of her own. Bushroot could feel his cheeks go warm; Morgana had always been nice to him, for the most part. There was only one time he could remember when the two of them had not gotten along, yet that had been when Negaduck and the Four had been trying to take over the city and he had captured Morgana in a tangle of daisy roots. It was nice to know there were still no hard feelings.

"Well, thanks, anyways…." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. He wanted desperately to apologize for that day, seeing as how he was now reformed, just about everything he did in those days he wished he could take back. Yet before he had the chance to say anything, he could see someone's shadow sneak up from behind her. "Morgana! Look out!" he cried out to her, reaching a hand out in her direction. But it was already too late.

Someone hit Morgan in the back of the head with a something big, bulky, and heavy and Morgana was on the ground unconscious before Bushroot was able to wrack his brain over what had just taken place. With Morgana now on the ground, the ex-scientist was now able to see who had hit her.

Negaduck stood behind her, sneering down at her motionless body. "Dumb, broad" spat the yellow clad villain. "Though thanks to you, I now have the upper hand." He turned his gaze away from the fallen witch to the same bulldog thugs that had been holding Darkwing captive earlier. "Pick her up and take her with us."

Bushroot, finding his voice and forcing his body into motion, snapped into action. "Oh, no you don't!" he growled. Morgana had fallen while trying to help him; he refused to let anything happen to her now. Not on his watch. With a flick of his wrist he summoned several vines to shoot out from the ground and start their way towards Negaduck and the thugs.

With a snarl, Negaduck snarled in reply, "send those damn things any closer to us and the witch gets it!" To emphasize his point, he brought out a small yet sharp knife and held it deathly close to Morgana's neck as she limply laid in the bulldog's arms. With a squeak, Bushroot motioned for his vines to retreat, wishing his vines would move away faster. Once they disappeared a satisfactory smirk formed on Negaduck's beak. "That's more like, it, Bushy. Now go be a good little freak show sapling and beat it!"

Bushroot took a hesitant step back, wondering in the back of his mind where everyone else was. Surely all the thugs in the park had been chased away. Why was no one else coming? Why was he the one who had to deal with Negaduck?

"MORGANA!" came Darkwing's distressed call.

Bushroot glanced over to his right to see Darkwing sprinting over to them. 'Oh, sure. NOW he comes' thought Bushroot, slightly bitter for reasons he wasn't sure.

"Stop right there, Darky, otherwise your precious woman gets a knife in the throat" threatened the evil mallard. Darkwing stopped cold in his tracks at the threat, leaving him standing next to Bushroot. "That's a good boy" leered Negaduck. "Now, tonight has been fun, but as I told you before in the letter, I'm tired of 'fun'. Now I mean business. You didn't listen to me in that letter when you didn't hand over that stupid pilot! So instead I'll be taking the next best thing! You're stupid girlfriend! Meet me in a half hour on top of the St. Canard Science Building! And come along this time! If you don't—" He pressed the cold steel of the knife against Morgana's exposed neck. "She'll be paying the consequences. It's just you and me, Darky. We're going to finish this once and for all!"

Before Darkwing was able to react, Negaduck through something small to the ground and he, the thug, and Morgana where enveloped in a thick cloud of red smoke which filled the area, leaving Bushroot and Darkwing standing there in coughing fits until minutes later it finally cleared. They opened their eyes to find the three of them gone.

"Damn it!" swore Darkwing under his breath.

Bushroot sighed, feeling a wave of guilt wash over him. "I'm sorry, Darkwing. This is partially my fault…." He spoke quietly. Darkwing's eyes landed on the mutant, his look accusing. Seeing his stare, Bushroot started fiddling with his hands together nervously. "Y-You see, she had been distracted after she saved me from getting pulverized by one of the thugs. I didn't have the chance to warn her before Negaduck got to her-I'm sorry—"

"Relax, Bushroot, I'm not blaming you" huffed Darkwing as he crossed his arms. "I should have known she would show up here. I just wish I had known she was here; I might have been able to stop her from getting captured. She must have JUST gotten here…."

"I think she did" mumbled the half mutant.

Darkwing took in a deep breath and let it out before saying, "Well, what's done is done. Guess I'm off to the St. Canard bank rooftop." He turned to look around them, noting that all the thugs had in fact ran off in fear save for the one who was still helping Negaduck. He watched as the other members of the Fearsome Four walked over to them. Liquidator sloshed his way over to Bushroot's side as Megavolt helped Quackerjack limp his way over to them.

"Is it over? Where's Negaduck?" inquired Megavolt.

"He took off with Morgana as his captive. He wants me to meet him at the St. Canard bank roof top" explained the vigilante.

"Then what are we waiting for!" piped up an excited Quackerjack.

Darkwing raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought you didn't want to help me."

Quackerjack gave a small pout before his large grin took over his beak again. "Well, I still don't, but now that we're out here…." He trailed off with a giggle. "It IS playtime, after all. And I haven't had a playtime in a looooong time."

"You had one yesterday" Bushroot pointed out. Quackerjack didn't reply, just gave him a loud raspberry.

"Thanks for the sentiment, Quacky, but you're not coming" informed Darkwing sarcastically, taking off his fedora hat and fixing it after having gotten slight bent during the fighting. "I need to do this by myself for once. No help from Launchpad or Gosalyn either." He said this with determination as he placed his fedora hat back on his head.

Megavolt's mismatched eyes widened. "Launchpad and Gosalyn?" he whispered mainly to himself. He turned to Bushroot. "Who are they!" Bushroot just sighed and rolled his eyes at him.

Quackerjack stomped his foot down and pouted. "Awww, how come we get to miss out of the fun?"

"Only you and Megavolt will be missing out on the….."fun"…..Bushroot, Liquidator, you two will be coming with me. I'll need someone to take Morgana away to safety while Negaduck and I fight. I don't trust him when he says it'll just be the two of us. I know he's going to try to use her as a part of it somehow. And Megavolt and Quackerjack, you guys can stay here and take care of what thugs are still left and knocked out. Keep an eye on them in case they get any ideas."

"Since when were you good at making strategy plans?" asked Liquidator with a raised eyebrow and perked up ears.

"Since he scared away the two closest people of my life and kidnapped the third one" retorted Darkwing with an air of ignorance. He fixed his sleeves and gave a grunt of determination. "Now, are we done standing around here talking or are we going to let Negaduck get away with this?"

Bushroot and Liquidator smiled, stepping closer to Darkwing in acknowledgment that they were prepared to go. Quackerjack and Megavolt both saluted him from where he was standing. "I'm still not happy about missing the action, but whatever…." Sang Quackerjack as he looked up at the sky with wide innocent looking eyes.

Darkwing nodded. "Thanks you guys, now let's go save Morgana and stop Negaduck once and for all!"

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Author's Note: Well, here is another update. This is far from where I wanted to leave off, but because this chapter was becoming so long, I sort of had no choice. I was hoping to finish everything up in this chapter, but it just didn't work out that way. Oh, well. The more chapters, the merrier, I suppose. I am continuing to write the rest of this chapter, since it's all fresh in my mind. So, now that I have this author's note finished, I'm going to head straight on to the next chapter without stopping. So the last chapter should be up fairly soon. Possibly even in a few days. Enjoy this chapter and please review! –EricaX


	8. Chapter 8

Broken Ties

Chapter 8

Author's Note: As promised, here is the last and final chapter to Broken Ties. This chapter also contains the Epilogue, which was originally going to be its own chapter, but I decided to just go ahead and have everything in this chapter rather than adding one more. The epilogue is not very long at all, anyways. Now, onto the chapter!

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By the time Darkwing, Liquidator, and Bushroot made it the Science building where Negaduck wished for them to meet it was now entirely pitch black outside as the sun had gone down entirely. The chilly winter wind whipped through them without any mercy as they looked up at the tall building. Forty five stories high and Negaduck wanted to be at the very top.

"Why exactly did Negaduck chose THIS place, of all places?" inquired Bushroot as he broke the silence between them.

Darkwing shook his head in an uncaring way. "Why does he choose any of the stuff he does?"

Bushroot and Liquidator looked at Darkwing, who was standing before them. It was evident that Darkwing was not in the mood to answer random, irrelevant questions. No longer were they dealing with the same dogged mallard dressed in a purple cape and hat. No, things were serious now.

With a deep breath, Darkwing walked up closer to the building. "The real question is: how do we get up there? Normally I would just have—"his voice broke a moment, causing him to stop short. The reminder that Launchpad and Gosalyn were not there still made this all the more difficult for him. He continued, "Normally I would just have Launchpad take the Thunderquack and drop me off up there."

After a moment of silence, Bushroot piped up, "We could use the elevator."

Darkwing gave a hoarse chuckle at that while Liquidator hid a chortle. Darkwing was the first to recover as he scoffed, "Riiiiight. Take the elevator….As if…"

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Ten minutes later found the three of them in a closed elevator which had just started rising up. All three of them looked straight ahead at the golden reflective elevator door, all wearing blank expressions. None of them had been able to think of a better way to get up there without letting Negaduck know of their arrival and Darkwing wanted to make his appearance as surprising as possible.

The elevator dinged softly every time they went past a floor and after three floors went by, Liquidator spoke up.

"Charities" was all he said.

"What?" queried a perplexed Darkwing as he and Bushroot turned to him.

"I used to donate to charities" repeated Liquidator with a bit more explanation.

Darkwing gave him a flabbergasted look. "What are you talking about?"

Liquidator looked as though he really didn't wish to be having this conversation, but he pressed on anyways. Bushroot was keeping himself from laughing on the other side of Darkwing. "Earlier, you were able to name a good quality about everyone but me. So, I'm telling you now: I used to donate to charities before I was overcome with my reputable greed."

Darkwing, having caught on to what he was talking about, nodded. The awkwardness was still there, even as Darkwing replied. "Oh…." He honestly didn't know what to say to that. "Well…..good." Bushroot squeaked as he tried to keep his laughter to himself, placing a leafy hand over his beak. Liquidator just shot him a glare. The rest of the ride up to the forty fifth floor was silent.

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Out on the windy rooftop of the bank, Negaduck paced back and forth as he waited impatiently for his foe to show up. It was now pitch black outside as the sun had set long ago. The faint smog and lights from the city made it difficult to see the stars to those who weren't looking for them. Yet Negaduck's mind was far from stars as he clicked his tongue in annoyance once more. He was getting tired of waiting; it seemed that was all he was doing these days: waiting for Darkwing Duck to arrive.

As Negaduck turned to continue his pacing the sound of a struggle came from his left as he turned his glare up to the corner of the rooftop. Two of his remaining thugs were restraining a furious Morgana and keeping her in her place between them. Each of them had a strong hold on her petite arms. The thugs were dressed in all black, making them hard to see in the darkness.

"You're going to regret doing this, Negaduck! Darkwing won't let you get away with this!" she hissed as she struggled. Her dark eyes were staring coldly at the mallard in yellow.

Negaduck simply smirked, finding her amusing. "Oh, but I already have, my dear… I already have…." he spoke in his deep voice. He turned his gaze away from her then and looked out over the city, imagining what he would be able to do once the city belonged to him. After a moment he called over to her, his back still to her and the thugs. "It really is sad, seeing what Darkwing has been reduced to. I should have thought of thing long ago….. Chasing away that oaf of a sidekick of his…..and getting rid of that little red-headed brat was a bonus…..I had no idea this plan would have worked out so well. I had simply planned on killing the pilot in hopes to see Darkwing crack. What I got instead was the amusement of seeing that idiot flee for his life, taking the girl with him…." He paused as he gave a bemused sigh, placing his hands behind his back. He then finally turned to sneer at Morgana. "Then you showed up and it was like….the cherry on top of everything. I suppose I should thank you for stupidly coming to attempt to help Darky…"

Morgana only grew angrier as she pulled harder against the thugs' grips.

It was then that a puff of purple smoke began to rise from the cement roof, catching the attention of all four of them. Negaduck turned to the smoke, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance. "Really, Darkwing? After all these years this is the best arrival you could come up with?"

"I am the terror that flaps in the night!" began the normal opening to Darkwing's entrance. Negaduck groaned, stepping closer to the smoke. "I am the weather forecast that refuses to cooperate!" Negaduck looked down, stifling a yawn. "I am DARKWIIIIIIIIING DUCK!"

Negaduck stood there, tapping his foot in impatience as the smoke began to clear. It was then that Negaduck realized that Darkwing was nowhere to be seen. He blinked in confusion, not understanding what was happening. He had heard Darkwing's voice coming from the smoke, yet he wasn't there. Had he fallen off the roof by accident? Negaduck figured he would laugh himself silly if that was the case. He began walking closer to the edge of the roof when suddenly a great weight crashed into him, ramming him into the hard cement of the roof.

Negaduck grunted in alarm, rolling onto his back to see that it was Darkwing, who had snuck up from behind him. He realized too late that the masked hero had thrown his voice to throw him off track. "What's the matter, Negs? Did I catch you off guard?" taunted Darkwing before punching Negaduck in the face.

"Shut up, you idiot!" shouted Negaduck in anger, punching back and hitting Darkwing in the chin. Darkwing was barely fazed though as he continued to throw punch after punch as he lay on top of the struggling Negaduck. After a moment, the villain became aware of the sounds of shouts and cries of pain coming from the other side of the roof. Daring a glance to his left, Negaduck could see where Bushroot and Liquidator had appeared and where taking care of the two thugs. Roots had twisted around their feet while Liquidator grabbed Morgana and got her to safety. He turned back to Darkwing and glared. "I told you to come ALONE! It was meant to be just the two of us!" He grabbed Darkwing by the shoulders and threw him off, making him land on the cement before him.

Darkwing was quick to get up and tackle Negaduck once again. "And yet oddly enough—"he grunted as they fought. "—I didn't listen to a scum bag like you!" He was then caught off guard as Negaduck kicked him in the side, causing him to fall over in pain. Negaduck saw his chance to strike and took it. He lunged on top of Darkwing and the two of them began rolling on the concrete in their struggle to stay on top and in control. "Besides, those two are only here to take care of your lackies and get Morgana to safety! Then it's just you and me!"

Negaduck grunted before throwing a swing at Darkwing, missing him by a millimeter. He could see that their struggle was not going as well as he would have hoped, so he decided to take another tactic that he knew might hurt Darkwing. "And—how do you know-they're not still working-for me?" Darkwing paused for a moment as his words sunk in before continuing to struggle once more. Seeing that that had gotten a reaction from him, Negaduck pressed on. "How do you know—this wasn't all come sort of act? I mean, can you REALLY trust them Darky?"

Bushroot and Liquidator paused in their fighting at the sound of Negaduck's words. The two thugs saw their chances and ran, knowing they held no chances against the members of the Fearsome Five. They ran to the rooftop door and ran through it, slamming it behind them in their wake. Bushroot and Liquidator looked at each other, unsure of what their ex-boss was trying to say.

Morgana, who was no longer being constrained by the two thugs, moved up to stand behind them. "Don't listen to a thing he's saying! He's just trying to trick Darkwing!" she assured them, but the two mutated villains wouldn't hear it. They wanted to keep listening to what was being said; they were curious to hear Darkwing's defense.

"I trust them!" Darkwing argued.

Negaduck pushed down on Darkwing, now being the one on top, and pinned him to the cement ground. He leaned in closer, "Oh, really? Why the sudden change of heart? You never once trusted any of them, not even your precious Morgana! Didn't you used to say, 'Once a villain ALWAYS a villain'?"

Darkwing winced inwardly as Negaduck used his own words against him, yet there was nothing for it; as he knew he would have to keep fighting. "Things change, Negaduck! You've changed everything! You turned your back on them! That's why I trusted them! We were after the same goal!" He shoved Negaduck, making the mallard fall backwards and allowing himself the chance to be in top of the struggling. He grunted before saying, "The moment you betrayed them was the moment we became allies! We all wanted the same thing, which was to stop you! Get RID of you!" The two of them continued to struggle.

"I betrayed no one! They betrayed me!" he glared for a moment over at Bushroot. "This all began when that miserable vegetable you call a friend betrayed me all those months ago!" he jammed his knee into Darkwing's side, causing the purple clad mallard to cry out in pain. Negaduck was now the one on top. "Then you somehow managed to win over Megavolt! I don't know how you did it, but suddenly that dim watt started betraying me! The lunatic clown and drip face were soon to follow! But it doesn't honestly matter, now does it, Darky?" he leaned down closely and sneered into Darkwing's face. "Because they're all idiot. They're worth nothing. They waste their powers and whether they are your enemy or friend, I care not! I'll still kill you all!"

Bushroot and Liquidator both fumed in anger from where they were standing in front of Morgana. Morgana, for her part, knew how this topic affected Darkwing. The short mallard still tore himself up for all the times he hadn't trusted Morgana because of her past; though a few of the times she had given him reason not to trust her. Though that was far from the point. It was hard to forgive someone who has done so much evil, especially members of the Fearsome Five, who have done their fair share of true cruelty.

Darkwing tried shoving his foot into Negaduck's chest, yet failed when the other mallard caught on to his tactic and moved. "You underestimate those four, Negaduck! You don't give them enough credit!"

Bushroot and Liquidator perked up at his words.

Negaduck laughed harshly. "Oh, is that so?"

"YES! They have a lot more potential than you'll ever be able to see them for! I have fought them time and time again and while they have failed, they never give up! Not only that, but they are there for each other! That's what's important! If one of them is down, they are all down! That's something you will never have, Negaduck! Nor will you ever understand!"

"Oh, don't even get me started on that 'love' crap! That's what you're talking about, isn't it?" groaned Negaduck. "When will people get it through their thick skulls that I DETEST love! I need no one! I work alone! Love is useless! It serves no purpose other than the fact that it blinds and tricks people into thinking they're appreciated!"

Darkwing stopped struggling for a moment before smirking up at Negaduck and saying, "That's where you're wrong, Negaduck." With another great shove, he pushed Negaduck off of him and quickly got to his feet. He turned to Morgana, Bushroot, and Liquidator. "Go! Get out of here! This is just me and Negaduck now! GO!"

Morgana looked like she was going to protest when a leafy hand grabbed hold on her arm and gently tugged her along. "Come, Morgana. He's right! It's just them, that's what this is about!"

"But we could help him!" she argued, turning to the half plant half duck villain.

Liquidator shook his head. "It's always the hero's final battle with evil that ends it all…." He had said it in his salesman voice, yet it didn't sound at all like a jargon. Bushroot and Morgana knew what he said was true. "Let's move now before the offer lasts!"

Morgana unwillingly followed after the two villains, feeling an ache in her heart as she looked one last time to see Negaduck and Darkwing throw punches at one another. She knew the two of them were right; this was Darkwing's battle, and no one else's.

The two mallards were unaware that they were now alone as they continued their fight. This time, it was just them: one on one. No gas gun. No chainsaw. Just them; fighting to what they knew would possibly be death.

Negaduck tripped Darkwing, causing the hero to land on the edge of the rooftop, smacking his head against the cement. Darkwing winced, seeing stars dance before his eyes for a moment before Negaduck came back into his view. His cape was flailing in the wind below him. He gasped when Negaduck jumped on him, forcing him down onto the cement and glaring into his face. "Time to die, Darky…." He pulled out a knife from his suit. Darkwing's eyes widened. Perhaps Negaduck had lied about it being just the two of them, nothing else, as well.

Darkwing glanced to his right, feeling Negaduck push him closer to the edge. His fedora hat flew off from the wind of the night as his head craned over the edge of the building. He grunted in fear as he glanced over and saw the edge and the street far below. He looked back up to Negaduck, who was bringing the knife closer and closer to his neck when an idea struck him. Placing his foot square in the middle of Negaduck's chest he growled, "Not today, Negaduck!" He grabbed Negaduck by the shoulders and simultaneously pushed Negaduck by his foot upwards and tossed him over his head. Negaduck screamed in fear as he was suddenly tossed over Darkwing and over the edge of the roof.

Though just as Darkwing had thought he had won, he felt a strong pull on his cape, which had been loosely hanging over the edge and flapping in the wind. Negaduck had grabbed his cape in an attempt to stay alive, making Darkwing flip upwards and over the edge of the roof as well. Fear gripping his heart, Darkwing grabbed the edge of the roof just in time before falling.

Both mallards were hanging off the edge of the roof, dangling high above the streets of St. Canard. They were both grunting in pain and fear as Negaduck began climbing up Darkwing's cape. He tried grabbing Darkwing's feet, but the hero moved them so that he didn't have that option. Since Negaduck was holding onto the very end of his cape he couldn't reach. Darkwing kept his feet up, both to prevent Negaduck to climb up and in an attempt to climb up the wall himself.

After another moment, his cape began to strangle him as he fought to breath. Dizziness started to overwhelm Darkwing the more his cape continued to press into his neck due to Negaduck's weight. "DARKWING! HELP ME!" rang Negaduck's plea through the cold night air.

Testing his grip, Darkwing took one hand and started undoing his cape just as Negaduck cried out for help again. "Sorry-Negaduck. But-you need no one…..Remember?"

Negaduck's eyes widened in fear upon hearing those words.

Darkwing tore at the material of his cape, trying to take it off. Just as Negaduck was trying to reach up to get a better grip, Darkwing managed to tear off his cape.

"AHHHH!" Negaduck's scream echoed throughout the night as he fell to the streets below.

Now being able to breathe again, Darkwing took in greedy gulps of air. He was truly regretting making the other leave for he could surely use their help at this point. The dizziness was getting worse even though he could breathe again and he could feel the palms of his feathery hands getting sweaty and bloody from holding into the cement edge. The fight with Negaduck had worn him out and he now was unsure if he would be able to pull himself back up. He closed his eyes, feeling the world spin around him.

His grip loosened and he could feel the air around him whirl past as he began his descent downwards.

It was then that he felt himself ram into something.

Strange. The ground did not feel as hard as he would have guessed. It had come sooner than he had expected too. It hadn't felt like that far of a drop.

He opened his eyes slightly, blearily looking around him. He was staring at the wall of the building. He was still in the air. But how?

He looked down at the black mechanical hands under his arms and holding him up. He could hear the sound of a distant whirring.

"Gizmoduck…."whispered Darkwing faintly before promptly passing out.

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"Megsy! You're not playing fair!"

"Since when did I ever play fair?"

"Give me it!"

"No."

"GIVE me it!"

"No."

Before Quackerjack was able to retaliate, Megavolt stuffed the last of the chocolate bar into his mouth. Quackerjack pulled down on his hat in anger, stomping his feet as he sat on the purple plush armchair. The two of them were sitting next to each in identical purple plush armchairs.

Morgana walked past them, completely ignoring their antics. She had invited everyone back to her house, which was still in the process of being rebuilt. Her father, along with some of his monster friends, had been busy working on restoring the house to its former glory with the aide of their magic. Morgana had been helping them until she had heard what was happening between Darkwing and Negaduck. She had immediately gone to help, leading to the events on the rooftop.

As she glided over to the other side of the room, she held a glass of water in her hand. There was a mixture of compost in it, meant specifically for one thirsty plant mutant. "Here you go, Bushroot." She smiled warmly as she handed the ex-scientist the drink he had asked for.

Bushroot beamed at her offer, the anthers on top of his head bouncing slightly. "Thank you, Morgana!" he took the glass from her. Liquidator was standing beside him with a bemused grin on his watery features. Bushroot glanced shyly between Liquidator and Morgana before spilling the contents of the glass to the floor. He then dipped his root-like feet into the puddle. He closed his eyes with a content smile on his face. "Hmmm….That tastes great!"

Morgana smiled at him before moving over to where Launchpad was currently standing. The two of them had left as soon as they could from Duckberg after having seen Negaduck's threatening video on the news. Gizmoduck had managed to get the St. Canard before them and, from what they heard later on, just in time too.

Launchpad was looking around the ceiling of the room as he gave a soft whistle. "Gee, Morgana. I'm sorry to hear about your house and restaurant…."

Morgana frowned sadly. "Yes….Daddy was pretty shaken up about it, but, thanks to his friends, it should be back to normal in no time."

Launchpad nodded mutely. "Yeah…..DW was probably shaken up about it too…"

Morgana nodded. "He certainly was sweet about the whole thing. He was there for me the whole time."

At the mention of Darkwing, both sets of eyes traveled over to the side of the room where a bed was currently sitting. Darkwing was resting in the middle of the bed, his head lying on a pillow and the covers drawn all the way up as he slept peacefully. It had been several hours since the battle between him and Negaduck. According to the police, Negaduck was found in critical condition. It was hard to say whether the evil mallard would make it or not, but they all knew one thing was for sure: They would not be hearing from him for a long time.

Lying on the bed next to him; on top of the covers, slept Gosalyn. Ever since Darkwing had been brought to Morgana's house, she hadn't left her father's side. She had cried a little at the sight of him, having been severely worried over him, yet she denied any such thing. Though she wouldn't admit she had cried, everyone knew how hard it had been for her to leave her father in such a tough time.

"I'm sure Gosalyn was a handful over in Duckberg" commented the witch.

Launchpad shook his head. "Surprisingly, no. She stayed to herself. The triplets: Huey, Dewey, and Louie couldn't even get her active. She was really depressed in Duckberg, cause she wanted to be here" He paused before adding, "Doesn't mean she didn't try to escape and make her way here to St. Canard a few times. But…"

Morgana nodded, understanding. She didn't need it explained. Gosalyn loved Darkwing very much and hated the thought that she couldn't be there for him. The sound of Megavolt and Quackerjack arguing on the other side of the room could still be heard, a calm silence falling between the two friends. Gizmoduck was over in the corner talking to Moloculo. Thankfully he had been able to get there in time.

Darkwing winced from where he was lying on the bed. He grunted as sleep escaped him and reality began to sink in. His mind slowly started working as memories came back to him. As he remembered what had happened on top of the roof, he gasped as his eyes went wide. He sat up in shock.

Gosalyn woke at the sound of the gasp and the movement beside her. As soon as she saw Darkwing awake, her eyes went wide in happiness. "DAD!" she cried. She moved quickly and soon her arms were around his neck.

Darkwing was still stunned at what was happening around him. There were bandages around his head and his fingers were wrapped tightly in gauze. He patted Gosalyn awkwardly on the back. He reached up, feeling that his mask was still on. He was still in his Darkwing outfit. "Hello, Gosalyn…" he said uncertainly. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"We're at Morgana's house, dad!" she informed him happily.

"Morgana's-?"

"Yeah! And everyone is here to make sure you're okay! You did it! You stopped Negaduck!"

"I did?"

"YES! He fell off the roof! You would have too, but Gizmoduck saved you in time!"

Upon hearing her words, everything began to make sense to him. He winced in pain as he sat up a bit. By this point everyone was aware that he was awake as everyone started clambering around his sick bed.

"Why, hello there, Gizmobuddy! We were worried about you!" came Gizmoduck's loud booming voice. Darkwing winced at the sound of it before turning to look at the mechanical duck. "Hi, Giz…." He spoke lamely. "Thanks….for catching me…." He said this quietly.

"No problem! I'm glad I was able to get here in time!" beamed the other hero.

Darkwing shook his head, looking around those who at his bed. He saw Morgana, Launchpad, Gizmoduck, Gosalyn, Moloculo, Quackerjack, Megavolt, Bushroot, and Liquidator. Darkwing did a double take as his eyes landed on the Fearsome Four. He blinked at them for a moment before opening his mouth to speak, yet no words would come out.

Seeing his struggle for words, Bushroot spoke up. "We….wanted to come and say….." he glanced at the other three, who were conveniently looking away. He turned back to Darkwing. "We wanted to say….Thank you…For…stopping Negaduck….and for helping us….stay alive…" he chuckled nervously, running a hand over the back of his head.

"Yeah…" mumbled Megavolt. "We also wanted to thank you for….standing up for us back there…" He shuffled his feet nervously, his plug hat sparking a bit.

Quackerjack crossed his arms and swayed back and forth. "I guess you're not….THAT bad…"

"This is one satisfied costumer!" announced Liquidator as he pointed to himself, his ears perked up.

Darkwing smiled at them. "Well, I guess I should thank you guys too, for helping ME as well. I know Bushroot is done with crime, but…..does this mean…..you guys won't be committing crimes anymore?" He aimed that question more on Megavolt, Quackerjack, and Liquidator.

"Oh, now Darky…" scolded Quackerjack, the bells at the end of his jester hat jingling.

"You really ought to know by now…" continued Megavolt.

"That these villains are not about to give up on their life of crime!" finished Liquidator proudly.

Bushroot merely laughed at their response from where he was standing at the end. He looked to Gosalyn. "I don't know….I'll probably stay clean…..But…." he looked to Liquidator. "A certain someone may tempt me from time to time."

Darkwing nodded, understanding. He didn't honestly think they would stop being villains like Bushroot. They had formed a sort of friendship, but nothing more than that. Things were back to normal now, meaning no more freebies and that it was back to the old crimes. He shrugged. "I suppose I can't complain about that. I mean, without you guys, I would be out of a job, right?"

The Fearsome Four smiled sheepishly at him.

Gosalyn moved closer to Darkwing, wrapping her arms around him. "It's good to be back, Darkwing" she said, remembering not to call him 'dad' in present company. Darkwing nodded. He looked up at Launchpad. "I'm glad you two are back." He then looked at everyone around the room. "Now everyone STOP staring at me and go about your business!" he snapped.

Everyone was gone from the bed in an instant, save for Gosalyn and Launchpad. Darkwing could hear Quackerjack complain though. "Ugh, how RUDE!"

Darkwing raised his arms out to Launchpad to show him he wanted a hug. Launchpad blinked and awkwardly walked up to him. "Oh….gee…..A hug…DW?" he was nervous at first, but then quickly scooped Darkwing into his arms. "Oh, DW! Gos and I were so worried about you!" His grip tightened as he remembered the videos on the news. Darkwing made a gagging noise.

"Launchpad! Can't breathe!" he croaked.

Launchpad let him go and chuckled. "Eh, sorry about that, DW."

"Ugh…..I guess some thing will never change…." Sighed Darkwing. He shook his head and smiled, being able to relax for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. Negaduck was now gone from their minds and they no longer had to worry about him trying to kill any of them. Things would slowly be able to go back to normal. The Fearsome Four would continue wreaking havoc on the city and he would be right there to stop them. Morgana would have her restaurant back. Gosalyn and Launchpad would be back at the house, living under the same house as him and driving him mad. Darkwing simply wouldn't have it any other way.

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The End

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Author's Note: IT"S OVER! The DWD series I've been working on for years is finally over! I'm SO sorry it took me so long to update this and I'm not about to ask for anyone's forgiveness. The point is, I finished it. I didn't forget about it. I promised everyone I would finish it and I did. I hope this ending chapter was not disappointing. I have been out of this fandom for a very long time so for me to suddenly start writing in it again was difficult. I wanted to wrap up everything that I could without it being entirely corny. Please review and let me know what you all think! Enjoy! -EricaX


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